Cold Fusion
by Dal Niente
Summary: My take on what goes on between Titan's defeat and the opening of the Megamind Museum.  Megamind is made of some tough stuff, but there's a reason he was afraid of Titan.
1. Chapter 1

You know what? This is _terrible_, and originally I was writing it just to make the plot bunnies shut up. But you know how these things go – the bunnies aren't shutting up. So I'm posting this here, in the hopes that it will spur me on to finish it faster and return to a normal sleep schedule. *cries* I have this mostly finished, and I'll try to have it all up in a timely fashion.

This is post-movie, and based on the premise that while Megamind is undeniably tough (and he must recover really quickly from his fights with Metro Man so he probably also has accelerated healing abilities), his fight with Hal must have done some damage. You can't show it in a kids' movie, but still, there's a reason Megamind was afraid of Titan. So the fight ends, everything is great, cut to the dance party of awesome hilariousness. But what happens in between the end of the fight and Megamind's entrance as Metro City's new hero? Here's my take. This is something that popped into my head after the "You did the fool thing all by yourself" bit, when I noticed how the noise Megamind makes is probably a very real cry of pain.

Disclaimer: I'm a trekkie from way, way back, and there's this thing that Vulcans can do with healing trances that has a lot to do with the basic premise for this fic. It's been done, I know, but I couldn't resist. Also, Megamind, Roxanne, and Minion aren't mine. I make no money from writing this.

Rated T currently, although that may change. Some mild swearing. Nothing too explicit. Angst, fluff, and pseudoscience ahoy!

**Chapter 1**

Roxanne has a lot on her mind, a lot to think about, and when she finally, _finally _manages to escape the crowds and reporters and go home, she wants nothing more than to take a hot shower and go to sleep. And not _think _for a while.

At least she can finally stop worrying about Hal, but she still has to deal with Metro Man's abrupt retirement. That he didn't turn up when things were actually pretty dire stings quite a bit. What she had told Bernard – no, she reminds herself, no, that had been Megamind – was the truth: she and Metro Man had never been a couple.

But that didn't mean that she didn't regard him as sort of a friend. Enough of a friend that she feels more than a little bit betrayed that he would leave her out to dry.

And then there's the whole Bernard/Megamind fiasco to consider. She is very aware that the person she fell for was Megamind. But.

She shakes her head as she climbs the stairs to her flat, muttering under her breath as she slides the deadbolt home. She sheds her clothes all the way to the bathroom, then slams the sliding plexiglass shower door closed after her, determined not to think.

And, for the next half-hour or so (because at this point she _deserves _a long hot shower and her utilities bill can go piss up a rope, as far as she's concerned), she doesn't. She has never allowed herself to think about heavy problems in the shower, not since she was in school and worrying about her GPA, and over the years it has become habit. Water goes on, worries go off, end of story.

But when she gets out of the shower and into her pajamas and robe, all of her problems come rushing back and she's_exhausted_, but the last thing she wants to do is sleep. Her mind is still flying at full tilt; she is still on edge and jittery, her nerves jangling and her knees weak.

"Damn you, adrenaline," she mutters, and pads off to the kitchen to fix herself a cup of coffee. Then she comes back to her living room and turns on the news, hoping for something mindless and droning. She should have known better.

Usually she uses the news as background noise, because nothing is news to Roxanne, but tonight she cannot tune it out. They keep rolling footage of 'Metro Man' fighting Hal, and Megamind fighting Hal, and Megamind getting tossed around and shot at and stepped on and punched and _good God_, do they have to keep _showing _that?

Because, even as confused as she is about him, the sick-churning _please, no_ feeling in her stomach when she saw him impaled by the Metro Tower spike is something she never wants to feel again. As she watches the film clips repeat, the footage from cell phones and cheap video cameras blurry and out-of-focus, she sees again just how close a thing it all was. It had been luck, really, pure blind luck and stubbornness that they had won at all.

She tells herself that she is still mad about Bernard, but a moment later she finally has to admit that isn't quite true. She's still _upset_, certainly, and confused and a little hurt, but she isn't angry anymore.

There had been a few times that she was kidnapped that had scared her, but they were long ago. She knew she had never been in any real danger with Megamind. Hurting her would have been pointless if nothing else, and she imagined he rather enjoyed their encounters. Besides, anyone _Minion _liked had to have some good qualities, right?

But she had never really questioned the assumption that Megamind was evil, or wondered whether he might have motivations beyond furthering his schemes. He had never given her a reason to think that.

_Did you really think that I would ever be with you?_ She mutes the television, tips her head back against the sofa and closes her eyes, considers. That night, she had been furious. Furious and _terrified_, and that was what had done it, really. Megamind had never been _frightening _before. Weird, yes; diabolical, yes; evil, definitely. Never actually scary. But the knowledge that he'd spent so much time twisting her mind in his favor, and that _she had fallen for it_, had been horrifying. She hadn't expected him to be able to toy with her so easily, hadn't pegged him as that type. Heck, she hadn't expected him to have that kind of _attention span_.

Of course, she understands _now_. He hadn't been trying to corrupt her, hadn't been trying to force her into some kind of dastardly plan. The whole mess had started off as a way to just get her out of his lair. Then _she _had brought the whole 'partner' thing up, surprised him with that, and she knows from experience that Megamind tends to short-circuit when he's surprised. He'd gone along with _her_, initially, and from there it had progressed into something else. Roxanne isn't sure what, anymore, but the way he looked at her…

Yes. Yes, as far as potential partners went, she could do a lot worse than Megamind. And she isn't sure she could do better than him, even if she wanted to – _does _she want to? She doesn't think so.

She sighs. _No sleep tonight_, she thinks, and then nearly jumps out of her skin when her buzzer sounds.

She's running on autopilot and answering the door is reflex, and she is in the process of undoing the deadbolt when she realizes that it is half-past two in the morning, and who the _hell _would be calling on her at this hour of the night? She presses her eye to the peephole.

_Minion? What the-?_

She opens the door. And then she sees what Minion is holding, and her stomach turns over again and she is amazed to find that she can actually speak words, real words, because her mind has gone totally blank.

"Minion, what _happened?_"

The fish blinks down at her. "I'm sorry it's so late, Miss Ritchi, I really am. I didn't know where else to take him after today."

Roxanne just holds the door open as wide as she can. She isn't quite sure how to answer that one – she isn't even sure if she _can_, because this, _this _is the cherry on top of the sundae of disaster that has been her week so far.

In Minion's arms, Megamind is very pale, and very, very unconscious.

"I don't understand," she manages, staring first at Megamind and then up at Minion's unhappy little face. "What…he was_fine _earlier, what on Earth happened to him?" _He looks like he's been hit by a bus_, she thinks, and has to resist the hysterical urge to laugh.

"Titan happened," says Minion, and then, seeing her expression, sighs a little. "A side effect of the dehydration process is that it takes your nerves a little longer than the rest of you to rehydrate. The less time spent dehydrated, the longer your nerves are out of commission."

Roxanne shakes her head a little. Another time this would have made total sense, but after the day she's just had, she's feeling a little slow on the uptake.

"He was fine earlier because he couldn't feel any pain," Minion explains. "But rehydration is…well, it's hard on your cells on a good day, and after what Titan did…his body's beginning to shut down."

She blurts out the first thing that pops into her head. "You mean he's _dying?_"

"No!" Minion's voice is a startled yelp. "No, he isn't dying – it'd take more than that to kill him. Probably."

Roxanne is nodding frantically, latching onto that piece of information. "Yes, all right, of course, I mean I've seen him stand up to Metro Man and he was always okay after that, so…"

Minion gulps a little. "Miss Ritchi, Metro Man only ever tried to hurt him."

This is true. There is a long, awkward pause.

"I can't keep him in the lair. People were already starting to turn up and it's the middle of the night. I've been out of it all day, and I didn't realize…I didn't _think_…" Minion's voice is getting higher by the second, and it pulls Roxanne back to reality._ The facts:_ Megamind is hurt, and maybe Minion is too, and Roxanne shoves her rattling nerves to the back of her mind and takes charge.

"You both can stay here. Come with me."

Minion shakes his head, but Roxanne is already heading towards the closet where she keeps future Christmas gifts. "I only came to ask if you knew of a good hiding place. People know where you live."

Roxanne's apartment is a mess of old newspapers and magazines, but she knows where everything is and she doesn't have to search for what she wants. She pulls down a flat box she had intended to give her boss. "Yes, and if anybody tries to break in here, I'll have a team of rabid lawyers on them so fast it'll break the sound barrier. He'll be perfectly safe here until he recovers."

"That's kind of you, Miss Ritchi, but I really don't think…"

She turns. Her blue eyes are steel, her voice iron. "_Minion._"

"What?"

She holds out the box, and there is no mistaking the tone of command in her voice. "Get him out of that suit and into these. It's too tight and he needs to be able to breathe easier. Is he clean?"

"Yes, the detox…"

"Good. Call me when you're done." She disappears into the bedroom and hurriedly changes her sheets. She switched them just last week, but who knows what Megamind's immune system is like when he's in this state. Better not to risk it. And she needs to do _something _to keep from thinking about how he picked her up and swung her around this afternoon, laughing.

"Miss Ritchi! Help?"

She is back in the living room in record time. Megamind's leather suit, boots, and gloves are in a pile on the floor, and the blue alien is now clad in a set of grey silk pajamas. Mostly clad. His shirt front is still open.

"It's the buttons," Minion says miserably, "this is my spare body and it's a bit bigger than the other one and I can't quite get the hang of these buttons."

Roxanne waves his hands away and does up the buttons as quickly as she can, trying not to see the bruises purpling under Megamind's skin. In all the years she's watched Metro Man battle Megamind, in all the years she's seen Megamind get hit, she has never once actually seen him show signs of injury. Metro Man must have been pulling his punches.

She straightens, ignoring the tightness in her throat, and heads back towards her room. "In here."

Minion hesitates. "A-are you sure? He's small, he's stayed on couches before, and I really do hate to impose."

Roxanne chokes back another shrill laugh. _I'm hysterical,_ she thinks wonderingly. _I haven't been hysterical in _ages_._

"Minion, do you _want _him on a sofa? Like _that?_"

"But – it's your _bed_, and I don't want you to have to –" He stops talking when he sees the way she is glaring at him. "Okay. Thank you."

He puts Megamind down on Roxanne's bed, arranges his arms by his sides. Then, one hand under Megamind's neck, he glances around. "Do you have a small pillow, or something similar?"

Roxanne does not, but she thinks she knows what he has in mind and she thinks of something that might work. Something ridiculous and childish in her won't let go of the notion that it might also be lucky, so she hunts under the bed for the box she wants until she finds her prize. "Will this work?"

Minion looks at the small stuffed dog Roxanne is holding. Its fur is flattened around the middle and it is squished from years of hugging, one button eye is missing and the other is loose. It is ragged and patched, half of its lopsided face doesn't match, and stuffing pokes out of a small hole under one of its arms.

But, "Thanks," says Minion, and he takes Mars and slips him under Megamind's long neck, then pulls the sheet and comforter up over his chest, never mind that it's summer and the air conditioning in Roxanne's building shorted out earlier in the week.

Throughout all of this, Megamind does not move; his shallow, unsteady breathing does not change.

"Won't he overheat?"

Minion looks at her curiously. "Exactly how much body fat do you think he has?"

She shakes her head, feeling incredibly stupid. "Right. Of course," she says, and follows Minion out of the room, turning out the lights as she leaves.

After a long while, Megamind's breathing evens out, then slows.


	2. Chapter 2

Oh my goodness, you guys! So many reviews! I'm used to a much slower fandom, maybe like one or two reviews for each chapter and maybe none if it's a one-shot. Seventeen? Seventeen is _insane!_ I love you. I love all of you. Even if you didn't review, oh my goodness, so much love to you all.

I mean, I wasn't gonna abandon this anyway, but if there had even been a chance of that happening, there certainly isn't now! *looks at reviews again* *wibbles* Oh man…you have no idea how much better you just made my day. Thank you for that.

**Chapter 2**

Minion is in a state. Roxanne has never seen the fish this frantic. He's circling in his bowl, eyes huge. He has been keeping himself together long enough to make sure his master is safe, and now that he has taken care of things as much as he can, he is allowed to panic.

"Minion," Roxanne says firmly, and waits until he looks at her. "Minion, do you like coffee?"

The fish gapes at her for a minute before her question sinks in. "No."

"What do you like?"

Minion closes his eyes. "Right now? Right now I'd like an egg. Two, if you can spare them."

Roxanne hadn't expected that, but she is determined not to be surprised. "Okay. How do you want them cooked?"

The eyes blink open again, wide and confused. "I don't," he blurts, then shakes himself, obviously embarrassed. "I'm sorry. You probably think that's disgusting, but after all that's been happening I…"

_Teeth_, Roxanne realizes. She has only ever seen Minion eat food that he cooks, but not often enough to get a feel for his eating habits. _Right. He must have teeth like that for a reason_. "I think I have some raw chicken in the fridge, would that be better?"

He stares some more, looking just as tired and shell-shocked as she feels, and this time she doesn't bother to wait for a reply. She goes to the kitchen, pours herself another cup of coffee. Then she grabs the carton of eggs and Styrofoam package of chicken out of the refrigerator – the chicken was going to be tomorrow's dinner, but at this point, she could care less, so she puts it on a plate, tucks the eggs under her arm and picks up the mug with her other hand, and goes back out to the living room.

Minion is sitting on the floor by the sofa, gazing blankly up at the muted TV. "Why don't they play something else?" he asks dully when she sits down next to him, then blinks at the eggs and meat she sets on the coffee table. He looks back up at her, surprised. "You were serious?"

Roxanne runs a hand through her damp hair and curls her legs under her. "Minion, it's three AM and the only reason I'm still awake is that my brain won't stop pinwheeling. I don't think I could be sarcastic if I tried."

She has the good sense not to look at Minion while he eats, but she does switch to the discovery channel while she drinks her coffee. She is sick of the news, sick of seeing Megamind thrown against that wall over and over and over again.

Minion is quiet for a while. Roxanne says nothing about the crunching of eggshells, or the fact that the chicken hasn't been de-boned, only makes a mental note that she does not want Minion to bite her, ever.

Finally he clears his throat. "You can ask, you know."

The questions burst out of her. Some small, rational piece of her is surprised how quickly she responds; she had thought she had more self-control than this. "_What is wrong with Megamind?_ It's been _hours _since he took you home, what's changed? Is he going to be all right? Are _you _going to be all right?"

Minion heaves a heavy sigh, tackles the first question first. "After my usual body was destroyed, I was kinda out of it. I'd been shaken around a lot, you know? And the water in that fountain had all kinds of chemicals in it, so I was pretty loopy. It…" he frowns. "Actually, it probably hasn't worked all the way out of my system yet, either. Anyway, I wasn't as on top of things as I usually am, or I might have noticed that something was wrong.

"When we got home it was already getting dark. He brought me in, fitted me into this body, then left me to charge my power cells while he went to clean himself up and change. He told me to go to sleep. 'Sleep, Minion. You need it.' It's what he always s-says." His voice goes high at the end, and for a moment, Roxanne is afraid he might actually cry. She isn't sure what she'll do if that happens. She's barely holding herself together as it is; the _last _thing she needs is for Minion to break down.

Luckily, he draws a deep breath, composes himself, and continues. "He didn't come back. When I woke up it was past midnight, and I went looking for him. Found him in the detox chamber, like that. I thought at first he'd just fallen asleep in there, and then I remembered all that happened today, and he _wouldn't _wake up." Minion stops talking for a moment to drop another piece of chicken into the top of his tank. Roxanne looks tactfully away. "Thanks. Listen, this is actually standard procedure for him. He's only been hurt like this a couple times before, but both times he's gone into torpor."

She blinks, looks back around at him. "Torpor? What, like hibernation?"

"Sort of like that. His body stops all unnecessary processes in order to conserve energy, and focuses everything on healing the damage. He heals amazingly quickly, you know, and he's a lot tougher than he looks," he adds, but he sounds insistent and defensive and Roxanne has to wonder if Minion is trying to convince her or himself of that fact. "I mean, we fell through Earth's atmosphere and _bounced _and we were fine. Shaken up a little, but fine."

Roxanne makes another mental note to ask about that later. "But why bring him here? Why not keep him in the Lair?"

"Because people were already starting to look for Evil Lair," Minion tells her. "Some of them found it. I could hear them outside."

"At two in the morning?"

Minion shrugs. "I didn't _invite _them, they invited themselves. No sense of propriety, these kids. Anyway, I don't want him being disturbed while he's…recovering. I can't take him to a hospital, they wouldn't know what to do with him and they'd call the government and if he can't defend himself—" Minion cuts himself off, takes a deep breath, and presses on before Roxanne can ask. "All he needs is a bed, I think, in a safe place where no one can find him. The prison has beds, but he's still _technically _got 88 life sentences to his name and I can't risk taking him there until we've sorted everything out. And you're the only person I could think of who might help us, since you've known us so long. And he seems…fond of you."

Is it her imagination, or does Minion sound a little hesitant?

"Minion?"

He looks at her guiltily. "Please try to understand, Miss Ritchi. The villain never gets the girl. My job –"

She cuts him off. "Wait, _you _told him that?"

"_Everyone _told him that. He said it himself," Minion points out. "It's true enough."

"It is _not_."

"Really?" Minion raises an eyebrow at her, and she actually squirms. "What, exactly, did you say to him, then, that made him turn himself in?"

She looks away. "I was still trying to wrap my mind around the notion that he might actually _want _the girl," she mutters. To her astonishment, Minion half-smiles.

"Of course he wants the girl, Miss Ritchi." In his bowl, the fish looks tired, and Roxanne is abruptly aware of just how late it is and just how long she's been awake. "He just doesn't think he can have her. He doesn't think he can have _anybody_. Goodness, you should have heard the fights we used to have. I stopped trying to convince him that not everybody hates him _years _ago. Now I mostly just focus on trying to keep him out of harm's way. For all the good that does." He pauses, looks her up and down. "You're very tired and you need to go to sleep, but before you do, I want to know what your intentions are towards him."

Roxanne's head snaps up. "What?"

"Please tell me what you want from him," says Minion, sounding apologetic. "He isn't easy to deal with, and he tends to overthink some things and overlook others, but he has his moments and I think he's more fragile than he lets on where you're concerned."

Roxanne is perfectly capable of reading between lines. "Minion, you don't have to worry." She scrubs at her eyes with the back of her hand. "I don't know exactly where I stand with him, but he is my friend. At this point, I owe him that much."

_I think I might love him_, she doesn't say. _I just don't know if I should._

"I'm going to try to get some sleep," she says aloud. She has no idea if she will be able to fall asleep, but it's worth a shot. "Is there anything in particular you need?"

Minion shakes his head, and the lights on his suit go out as, to Roxanne's amusement, a fake castle rises out of the base of his tank. Minion squeezes into it.

She turns out the lights, then flops down on the sofa and shuts her eyes. Her feet are cold but she'll deal with it. She isn't moving.

Minion's voice floats out of the darkness. "Miss Ritchi?"

"Mm."

"Thank you."


	3. Chapter 3

And here we go marching for chapter 3! This one is a bit longer, I think, but hopefully the pacing is still okay. I am still typing madly away at this! Almost done, almost done! I'll try to stick to a once-a-day update schedule, more or less, but we'll see how things go. We've still got a couple chapters to go yet before Megamind wakes up, but expect fluff galore when he does.

Oh…and this is the fic that forced me to break my "avoid writing OCs" habit. Roxanne has to have at least _one_ friend, right?

Thank you once again to everyone who reviewed. This response is fant_astic_. You are such an inspiration. You are awesome. Much love to you. *sends hug* And even if you don't review, you still get a hug, because everybody deserves to get a hug!

_Edit: Sorry, everyone - I didn't realize how badly ffnet would mess up Nibs' speech! Fixed that._

**Chapter 3**

The two of them fall into a routine astonishingly quickly. According to Minion, Megamind does not need anything but to be allowed to lie motionless until he wakes up, so Roxanne begins her week determined to ignore his unsettling presence as best she can.

Apparently, Megamind gave the brainbots some instructions before he lost consciousness, because the first thing Roxanne notices when she goes to the office on Tuesday morning is that there are droves of the yapping little machines traveling the streets. Where the traffic lights have been destroyed, brainbots hover in midair, stacked three deep, holding up glowing discs of red, yellow, and green in perfect formation. In a couple of places, they are busily installing new traffic lights. Others are clearing rubble from streets and sidewalks. A shadow passing over her car makes her look up to see more of them carrying I-beams in the direction of the Bay Bridge, and few minutes later, an immense concrete circle flies by, and Roxanne realizes they are rebuilding Metro Tower. Curious, she takes a detour, and discovers that the ruins of the tower that had nearly killed Minion are almost gone. Anything salvageable is being put to use in the construction of the new tower.

When she arrives at the news station, brainbots are replacing the windows while her nervous co-workers look on. Roxanne heads to her cubicle, taking advantage of her coworkers' distraction to avoid being noticed and questioned. One of the older models of brainbot, the ones that look kind of like armadillos, is already there, lying under the small full-spectrum lamp she keeps on her desk. "Hey," she says, surprised, and the movable 'eye' flickers to life and turns towards her.

"Yeah, sorry about that thing." Jo, the girl at the next cubicle in the row, is peering over the top of their divider. "It just showed up, turned on your light, and wouldn't leave."

Roxanne is actually kind of happy to see the little bot. She recognizes the glowing markings and robotic tail; this is the one she's always called Nibs. It and a host of others had been assigned to her security at one point, not that they had helped much when Metro Man showed up. "Hey, Nibs," she says again, and reaches out to rub its dome as she falls into her chair. Nibs whirs under her hand like a hard drive spinning to life. The tail thumps against the desk.

"Nibs?" Jo echoes faintly, blinking.

Roxanne nods and turns on her computer. "Yeah. I'm surprised this little guy is still operational, most of his model were destroyed a few years ago when Megamind's Superstorm Generator failed. The older models didn't react well with the lightning." She grins up at Jo's shocked face. "If I'd told Megamind once, I had told him a thousand times, _surge protectors_, but would he listen…?" She shakes her head and runs her fingers over the diodes under Nibs' chin, and Jo gives a little scream when the bot yaps and flings itself into Roxanne's lap.

Roxanne laughs. "Fully charged now, are we?" _Thaum thaum thaum_, says Nibs, and plugs itself into her computer. "Hey," she exclaims. "Where'd you get the flash drive?"

The cursor moves on her screen, opens a blank .txt document.

_Brainbot Model 6.3, Designation: 77  
>Serial No. 236AR904D<br>Alternate: "_Nibs"  
>Hardware USB 2.0<br>Added 11.21.2010  
>Software installed 11.21.2010<em>

Roxanne grins. "Was that Megamind's idea, or Minion's?"

Nibs whirs for a minute. _Insufficient data to generate response._

"Either way, color me impressed." And she is, really. She hadn't expected Megamind to make the brainbots compatible with regular hardware.

_Input: _FLATTERY  
>InputSource: =RRitchi<br>Output: "_gratitude"_

Jo has come to stand behind Roxanne, staring at her computer. "It talks?"

"It's programmed to answer complex questions," Roxanne says absently. She drums her fingers on the desk for a moment, chewing her lip, before she finally decides that she might as well go ahead and ask. "Nibs, can you give me Megamind's medical files? I want to know how much damage Hal might have caused."

_Input: Locate: BioInfo  
>NameOf: Daddy<br>Ref: "_MetroManOffense" OR "_RRitchiDefense" OR "_RRitchiOffense"  
>CrossRef: "_BluntForceTrauma" AND "Sub_01" OR "Sub_02" OR "Sub_03" OR "Sub_04"<br>CrossRef: "_StructuralIntegrity" AND "Sub_01" OR "Sub_02" OR "Sub_03" OR "Sub_04"  
>Sub_01: "_Skeletal"<br>Sub_02: "_Dermal"  
>Sub_03: "_Vascular"<br>Sub_04: "_Neural"_

Jo watches the brainbot putter. "What are you doing?" she asks quietly, and Roxanne jumps.

"Nothing," she replies, more sharply than she had meant to.

_AuthorizationCode?_

She frowns. She probably ought to have expected this. "Nibs, I don't have an authorization code."

_Access to desired information contingent upon AuthorizationCode. AuthorizationCode?_

"Can I override it?" she asks hopefully.

_Override_AuthorizationCode: AuthorizationCode?_

"Yes."

_Input _YES  
>InputSource: =RRitchi<br>Invalid AuthorizationCode.  
>Override_AuthorizationCode: AuthorizationCode?<em>

Roxanne bites down a strangled scream of frustration. "Nibs, _please_."

_Input: _PLEASE  
>InputSource: =RRitchi<br>Output: "_apology"_

It doesn't matter, really. Minion will have all the information Roxanne wants. She sighs, and says, "That's all right, Nibs. Thanks anyway."

She pinches the bridge of her nose and closes her eyes for a minute. There's a difference between asking Minion and having tangible information in front of her, but it doesn't look like that's going to be an option.

Jo clears her throat. "Um. Roxanne?"

"Yeah."

"It's still talking to you," Jo says, pointing, and Roxanne lifts her head.

_Output: "_reason. for. request"  
>Tone: query<br>Tone_2: polite_

She laughs a little. "It's okay, Nibs, really. I'm just interested."

_Output: _reporting. capacity= "_negative"  
>Tone: query<em>

"Yes, it's…" She hesitates. Well, the truth will out eventually. "It's a personal concern."

_Input: _PERSONAL_CONCERN  
>InputSource: =RRitchi<br>Output: "_consolation"  
>Output_2: "_there. there"<em>

Jo laughs shakily. "Well, if that isn't the weirdest thing I've ever seen. A supervillain programming his robotic army to be _nice_."

Roxanne has to smile at that. She forgets, sometimes, that she's really the only person other than Megamind himself who understands the brainbots. "That's all Nibs, actually. Try telling it you're concerned." Jo looks dubious, but obeys. Nibs whirs for a moment.

_Input: _PERSONAL_CONCERN  
>InputSource: =unfamiliar<br>Output: "_who. are. you"  
>Tone: rhetorical_question<br>Output_2: "_piss. off"  
>Tone: request<em>

Jo's eyebrows disappear under her bangs.

"The brainbots are amazing," Roxanne tells her, looking at Nibs. "Some of the newer ones even have decision-making capabilities. If Nibs were current, I might be able to persuade it to give me the information I want."

Jo regards her curiously for a minute. Roxanne's tone is one of respect, and that's something Jo hadn't expected at all. "Why do you want to know Megamind's medical details?" she asks, and Roxanne winces.

"Well, you know. I'm. Worried, that's all," she says, and Jo's eyebrows creep even higher. Before either of them can say anything more, Nibs beeps, and they look down.

_Input: _WORRIED  
>InputSource: =RRitchi<br>Output: "_worried. re. daddy?"  
>Tone: query<em>

Roxanne hesitates. The last thing she wants to do is admit to a coworker that she is worried about Megamind.

_Output: "_vocalize. response. re. previous. output"  
>Tone: command<em>

"Is it trying to give you _orders?_" Jo is aghast.

"Looks that way," Roxanne says slowly, eyes narrowing. Years of experience have taught her that the brainbots never do anything without a reason.

"What happens if you don't do what it says?"

Roxanne shrugs. "Let's find out." And before Jo can stop her, she says clearly, "Nibs – _no_."

_Input: _NO  
>InputSource: =RRitchi<br>Output: "_please"  
>Tone: urgent<em>

Roxanne frowns, and Jo bites her lip. "Roxanne, I think you'd better say yes."

Roxanne turns back to Nibs. "Okay, Nibs. Input re. previous output: Yes."

_Input: _YES  
>Re: _worried. re. daddy<br>InputSource: =RRitchi  
>Command: _load_autosave:_RoxanneDictation06072010.23:57?sourcecode=classified<br>AuthorizationCode? "_YES "=_re:_.daddy&?sourceid=RRitchi  
>AuthorizationCode: =TRUE<br>=run_command_prompt_003591.A  
>=_load_autosave:_RoxanneDictation06072010.23:57&amp;?sourcecode=authorized<br>__{  
><em>_Roxanne,_

_I told Nibs to meet you at your office. Sending him to your home didn't seem like a good idea. This is just to let you know that I'll be keeping my head down for a bit, but I haven't run off and I'll probably turn up eventually. If you're worried, which you won't be, but in case you are, don't. I'll be fine. Hopefully, you are also fine. None of my business, I know, but I hope you're okay. I instructed a few of the brainbots to keep an eye on you. I should have asked you, but there isn't time. The override is 008921RR09 if you want it. Tell Nibs. He'll let the others know._

_I'm sorry.  
><em>_}_

Roxanne's almost glaring at the screen, and she isn't quite sure when or how that happened, but she wants to cry. She knows Megamind pretty well, and she can imagine him sitting in the sterile detox chamber, dictating a disjointed memo to Nibs, keying it to her concern so that she can only access it if she's worried about him because he doesn't want to overstep his bounds a second time. _I should have asked you, but there isn't time._The note was autosaved yesterday at three minutes to midnight, probably just before he lost consciousness.

She remembers Megamind lying still and pale on her bed, and Minion's frantic circling, and a city bus and a flash of light and a cry of pain, and she reads the note again. _I'll probably turn up eventually_, and that's all it takes for the tears to spill over. It's too much, in too short a time, on too little sleep.

_Probably._

Roxanne sniffs, swears, rubs her eyes, then jumps when Jo wraps an arm around her shoulders. "Hey. Hey, it's okay. What's wrong? C'mere."

Roxanne can only shake her head. "Bathroom," she manages, and Jo nods and follows her.

Once they're away from the rest of the office, Jo turns Roxanne around to face her and hands her a roll of toilet paper, her round face the picture of concern. "Roxie, tell me what's wrong."

Roxanne manages a damp smile. She really isn't crying that hard, she's just worried and nervous and nothing is certain, and Megamind's note put her over the edge for a moment. "I'm really okay. It's just a lot to take in, that's all." She blows her nose.

"What is?" Jo peers at her. "You're scaring me, hon. You're not the emotional type."

Roxanne starts to answer, then stops. Jo is a reporter.

But she's also one of Roxanne's closest friends and she won't stop worrying unless she has a satisfactory answer. And Roxanne trusts her. She needs to trust _somebody_.

So she lets out a shuddery breath. "This stays between us, okay?"

"You got it."

She nods, sniffs, opens her mouth, closes it again. She does not want to say it. Saying it will make it true. But she is an adult, with a job, with responsibilities, and hiding behind superstition is just childish, so she grits her teeth and says, "Remember how I told you that I was with Bernard?" Jo nods, confused. "He's in a kind of coma. I'm not sure if he'll recover."

"Oh, _no,_" Jo says, horrified. It is the expected response to such information, but from Jo it is sincere. "Oh, Roxie, that's_awful_. I know how much you liked him."

"There's more," Roxanne tells her, and takes a deep breath, grimaces, and lets it out in a rush. "Bernard is Megamind in disguise."

Jo's sympathetic exclamations cut off abruptly and her eyes go wide. "_What?_"

"It was my fault, really." Roxanne cannot seem to _stop _talking, now, and she registers that she may be freaking out just a little. "I gave him the idea for Titan when he said reset buttons were impossible, and then I broke into his lair and he only wanted me to _leave _without touching anything or breaking anything and he saved me from the alligators, and then _I told Hal_ that Bernard was my partner and I don't think Bernard quite knew what to do with that, and then I told Ber – _Megamind_that I'd call him tomorrow and he said sure, okay, and then we were working together trying to figure out Megamind's latest evil plan only we were sort of dating at the same time, and –"

"Roxie." Jo gives her shoulders a little shake. Her face is pale. "Roxanne, honey. _Breathe_. It's okay, everything's gonna be okay, did he hurt you? Did he, God, did he touch you?"

"No." Roxanne had wondered, that night, how far he would have taken it, and she'd managed to convince herself that he would have gone as far as he wanted, but that isn't true and she knows it. "No, he wouldn't, he would never. He wouldn't hurt me."

"Only this is _Megamind _we're talking about, isn't it, not Bernard?"

"That's just it, they're the _same person_," Roxanne exclaims. "Bernard is…everything Megamind can't let himself be in front of people." When Jo still looks doubtful, Roxanne sighs and forces herself to calm down. "Jo, how many years have I been getting kidnapped?"

"Almost ten?"

"Yeah. And how many times has Megamind actually carried through and hurt me? Even when Metro Man was late?" Jo frowns. "He hasn't. Not once."

Jo shakes her head. "There was that time a couple years back when he broke your arm. He tore you up pretty badly, as I recall."

Roxanne closes her eyes. She remembers that, and she remembers the news report that had aired afterwards. "Megamind didn't break my arm. An energy beam ricocheted, and it hit Metro Man, and he dropped me. It was an accident. And I would have broken a lot more than my wrist if _Megamind's brainbots_hadn't caught me," she adds, patting Nibs. "It's not the brainbots' fault, either. They're just sharp."

Jo stares at her. "But the news said—"

"I was in the hospital afterwards. I didn't write that report, I didn't have any input at all, and by the time anybody would listen to me, it was too late. I could have broken my neck, you know."

Jo doesn't quite know where to go with this information. She leans against a sink, arms crossed over her chest, frowning. "Huh."

Roxanne just nods.

Jo is quiet for a minute. "When'd Bernard tell you who he really was?"

"He didn't." Roxanne hunches a little as she remembers the scene at the restaurant. "I found out."

"Ah." There is another long, stretching pause while Jo thinks, tapping a finger against her lips. "All right, I think I get it. Roxie, honey," she says, and laughs a little, "it's okay to be worried. And it's okay to be confused. You're scared, you don't know if you can trust him, you _want _to trust him and you think you can because the two of you go way back and you've gotten the chance to see who he really is, but now you'll never know if he _would _have told you the truth eventually."

Roxanne stares at Jo. "That's…how did you…"

Jo laughs again. "I read too many bad novels, and I know you too well. You said Minion brought him to you? Where is he now, Metro Hospital?"

Roxanne shakes her head. "No, he's…in hiding, like he said. Keeping his head down. I don't want to say where. You understand."

Jo's lips quirk into a little smile. "Of course I do. Just try not to worry too much, all right? If this is a natural biological process for him, he should be fine. And he said he'd turn up eventually."

"Probably," Roxanne says. "He said he'd _probably _turn up."

Jo fumbles for a minute, then says firmly, "Well, you've done what you can. Worrying won't help anything, so come on. We've got a lot of work to do, and it'll be a good distraction for you," and leads Roxanne back to their desks.

Jo is right, work is a good distraction. It's familiar, and comfortable, and after a few emails and follow-ups and chance encounters with other coworkers, Roxanne is back in her element. She calls the usual people on the assumption that she is still the city's resident authority on the hero's whereabouts (never mind that his "hero" status is still being debated by a lot of confused citizens). At this point, other reporters and news stations have stopped questioning Roxanne Ritchi's sources, so when she tells them that Megamind is at a secure location and out of commission for the foreseeable future, nobody argues. A few even express concern regarding his well-being, and she makes sure to laugh and assure them that no, everything will be fine, he just needs time. By the end of the day, she is in much better spirits.

"Hey," Jo calls over their wall when she hears Roxanne's computer shutting down, "you wanna go someplace for dinner? Get out for a while, maybe meet some new people?"

Roxanne hesitates. Going out _would _be nice, but she wants to go home more. God only knows what Minion has been up to while she's been away, and what if Megamind's condition has worsened? "No," she says, "but thanks. I just want to get home and get some sleep. I was up kind of late last night."

Jo laughs. "I bet you were. Okay, honey. Drive safe, and if you need anything, call me. Doesn't matter what time."

"Thanks," Roxanne says again, and reaches for her keys. Nibs follows her to her car.


	4. Chapter 4

So I started this fic about a week ago, now, and I've been typing nonstop ever since, and now my left forearm and wrist feel really odd. I'm on chapter 8 and I think that's almost to the end of part 1 of this plot bunny of freakish proportions.

You all are amazing, seriously. Everything I said before and then some. And more hugs. Always more hugs.

Onward!

**Chapter 4**

The drive home takes longer than it usually does. Usually any construction workers have gone home by the time Roxanne comes back from the news station so there isn't any traffic, but the brainbots show no signs of stopping, and the streets are slow.

All the traffic signals are back. The sidewalks have been cleared of broken glass and debris.

_We don't even have to pay for any of this_, Roxanne realizes. _All the damage that can be fixed is being fixed. People have insurance. We're going to be okay_.

_But the bots can't be allowed to keep doing _everything_, or they'll put us out of jobs and the economy will collapse_.

"We'll jump off that bridge when we come to it," she murmurs, waves hello to Carlos, and goes up the stairs to the apartment she's called home since she moved to Metro City twelve years ago. "There's no way Megamind doesn't understand basic economics. Minion?" she calls, pushing the door open and blinking. "Hey, Minion?"

"In here, Miss Ritchi."

Roxanne follows Minion's voice into the kitchen, looking around. "Minion, what did you do to my apartment?"

He looks nervous. "Are you mad?"

"Mad?" she echoes. She probably should be, since she didn't tell him he could mess with her things, but she has to admit that the apartment looks great. "Are you kidding? This is the cleanest my place has been in ages. What did you do with all the old papers and stuff?" _And what smells so good?_

"Sorted them by subject and date and put them in file boxes in your closet. You really aren't upset?"

Roxanne smiles. "I'm really not upset, Minion. I promise. Thanks for cleaning up. You didn't have to."

And darned if the gorilla body doesn't _shuffle its feet_ awkwardly. That has got to be the cutest, _strangest_ thing Roxanne has ever seen, and she has seen some pretty strange stuff in her time. "Well, you know. It's the least I could do for you, what with you sticking your neck out for us. Do you have any dietary restrictions or food allergies?"

She's laughing now. "No, I don't. Don't tell me you _cooked_."

"You have to eat," Minion protests. "And you know I cook all the time at Evil Lair. _He_ won't, he doesn't have time, and he doesn't really get hungry, and he can't live off of doughnuts and packaged food even though I'm sure he would if I'd let him. Anyway, dinner tonight is gluten- and nut-free just in case. Also vegan. In case you're vegan."

Roxanne nearly dies. "_Minion!_"

"_What?_" he exclaims. "It wasn't any trouble! It was easy! I _like_ cooking!"

"But you're a carnivore," she points out. "What are _you_ going to eat?"

"I'm a scavenger." His tone is conversational as he ladles cold yellow stew and spaghetti squash into bowls. "I will eat _anything_. I just prefer protein when I'm stressed."

"All right," Roxanne says. "Still. You really didn't have to do this."

Minion flaps a hand at her. "Oh, go sit down, silly human. I know I didn't have to."

"We could have ordered out. Chinese or something."

The indignant scowl Minion sends her is positively _parental_. "Have you any idea how many anti-nutrients there are in takeout? Of any kind? And it's so _unimaginative_."

He sits on the floor again, and Roxanne eyes him curiously. "There's room at the peninsula, you know."

"It's not like it makes a difference to me." Minion glances up at her briefly before digging into his dinner. Roxanne's silverware looks incongruously small in his huge hands, but he holds his fork with all the poise of an aristocrat. "I receive tactile input from this body's sensors, but whether I sit on the floor or in a chair doesn't make any difference since I don't get stiff or cramped. Besides, I'll break your chairs."

Roxanne looks at him for a minute, looks at her bowl, then pushes away her chair and sits cross-legged on the floor next to Minion. He looks embarrassed.

"Miss Ritchi, you don't have to –"

"Quiet, you. Solidarity. Besides, I like switching things around every now and again." She chews, swallows, raises an eyebrow. "This is good. What's in it?"

"Oh, you know." Minion waves a hand vaguely. "Good things. Garlic, tomatoes, beans, spinach, corn. Arugula. Sunflower seed butter. Sweet potatoes. A bunch of other stuff."

Roxanne frowns. "I had sunflower seed butter and arugula?"

"No, I went out earlier and got them. There's a great little vegan shop down on sixth. Holowatch, remember?"

It will be useless to argue with him, she can tell, so she merely thanks him again and changes the subject. "Minion, you said last night that you and Megamind fell through Earth's atmosphere and bounced. That got me thinking, you guys are pretty tough, but is there any way we could contact your home world and ask them for input on how to care for him? Did he ever build anything like that? A super-telephone or something?"

Minion swallows hard and stops eating, looks at her for a long moment.

_I said something wrong_, she thinks. The little fish has gone very still. But she doesn't know how fix it without knowing what she said.

A small eternity passes. Finally Minion says, "Metro Man never told you?"

Roxanne shakes her head. Minion sighs and drops more squash into the top of his dome. "Our home world fell into a black hole. His parents sent us here when the sun collapsed. This was the closest planet with intelligent life that was atmospherically compatible with our biological processes. There were fifteen other candidates."

"Oh. I'm sorry." There isn't much else she can think of to say to that. For a while, she and Minion eat their food in silence.

Out of the blue, Minion gives a little laugh. "Sixteen candidates, and they send him to the one planet Metro Man's parents send _him_ to. What are the odds?"

"Assuming Metro Man's parents were considering the same sixteen planets? Less than half of a percent." Then, when she notices Minion blinking at her, she smiles slyly. "What? Did you think I can't do math?"

He raises an eyebrow. "Not every human can do that without a calculator."

She snorts. "They can, they just don't know how. Mom got me a great tutor when I was little and having trouble with my homework. Ms. Krishnan taught me a lot of good shortcuts with math problems and she made me practice until I could do it in my sleep. It's not so special if you know how to do it, but I caught hell for it in school."

Minion looks at her in surprise again. "Really?"

She nods, shrugs a little bit. "It got better once I got older and learned not to act like such a know-it-all goody-goody. If there's one thing little kids can't stand, it's someone who's smarter than them and shows off."

"Or someone who's smarter than them and blue," Minion mutters.

"That would…_oh!_" _That's what Bernard was talking about_.

"What?"

"Nothing," she says hastily, "nothing, just something Bernard said. Megamind said." She lets out a groan of frustration. "That is really starting to get on my nerves."

Minion frowns down at her nervously. "What is?"

Roxanne is scowling. "I can't get it through my head that it was Megamind saying those things. I mean, I know it was him the whole time, but I remember it as Bernard and I can't get the two to synchronize." She lets out a long breath. Everything comes crashing down. There is so much to worry about, so much that she can't do anything about but sit and wait for it to change. "And I told Jo about Bernard, and today I had to explain about Megamind, and who knows what my _mother_ will say when I tell her the guy I was dating turned out to be a supervillain in disguise."

"Do you _have_ to tell her?"

"I already told her about Bernard. If I tell her we broke it off, she'll want to know why. And then if she runs into the _real_ Bernard at the museum, if that ever gets rebuilt, she's going to want to talk to him. And what am I going to tell her about Megamind?"

"Nothing," Minion suggests, but Roxanne shakes her head.

"You saw how quickly everyone assumed Metro Man and I were an item. It'll take a little longer with Megamind, but they'll catch on eventually."

"Assumed," Minion echoes. "What exactly do you mean, _assumed?_"

"Like I told Ber—agh, _Megamind_. Metro Man and I never dated. It was just easier for both of us if everyone thought we were a couple, so when the tabloids started publishing things about us, we never bothered to correct them. People mostly left us alone after that." She makes an exasperated _tchhh_ in the back of her throat and lets her spoon clatter against her bowl. "Now Mom'll wait the requisite six months to a year and then start trying to set me up with eligible doctors and lawyers."

Minion thinks about this. "Okay, so just tell her the truth."

"I can't do _that_," says Roxanne, appalled. "She hates Megamind, she always has. Forget _dating_ him, the fact that I'm even on good terms with him will send her through the roof." She pauses, swallows. "Speaking of Megamind. How is he?"

"The same," Minion tells her with a little sigh. "No changes that I could see."

For a few minutes, they eat in silence. Roxanne's apartment is large, and her kitchen is spacious enough to allow them both to sit comfortably in the middle of the hardwood floor.

"Minion, I was thinking earlier," Roxanne says, and stops. She really, really doesn't want to say it, but she has to prepare for the worst. Ignoring the worst that can happen leaves you unprepared when it comes crashing down around you.

"Yes?"

She forces the words out. "What if he's hurt inside? You saw the bruises. Those are _nasty_. I'm no expert, but I'm willing to bet he's got a bunch of cracked ribs, probably some broken. What if he's bleeding internally? What if he has a concussion? What if his brain swells?" She ought to be more delicate with her phrasing, she knows – Minion is pale – but Roxanne is worried and scared and she tends not to think when she's worried and scared. "Minion, what if he dies?"

Minion looks at his hands, big and heavy and useless in his lap. He knows. He's thought the same thing, over and over today. "If he dies," he says slowly, "your world will keep turning. You'll move on."

"Eventually, maybe, but I don't _want_ to move on. I _liked_ being with—with Megamind. And what about you? What will you do?"

"Please don't ask me that." His face scrunches up. "Please, Miss Ritchi. I don't want to think about that. I don't know what I'll do."

A small hand pokes into his field of vision, wraps itself over a big metal finger, and he looks around to find Roxanne smiling up at him. Her eyes are bright, and her lips are thin. "Okay, Minion. Okay. We'll just – stick together, you and me." She rests her forehead against a furry arm, staring down at the floor so that the tears will run down her nose and Minion won't see. "We'll take care of each other, right? Until he wakes up. We'll manage."

Minion curls his fingers closed around her hand. "Until he wakes up."


	5. Chapter 5

Everybody here is so _nice_, my goodness! The wrists should be okay, I think – I'm almost done with school for the semester and then I'll stay away from my computer for the summer, more or less (my roommate, who has had CTS and tendonitis, was like "O_O be more _careful_ you silly creature"), so.

But you are all just lovely – your reviews make my day, honestly – and I promise Megamind wakes up soon! Many hugs to you all. (^_^ )

(Oh and also! InvderLava drew fanart and it is amazing, and you should go and see: megamind-movie. livejournal. com /785941. html)

**Chapter 5**

And they manage very well for the next few days. Roxanne sleeps on the couch for two more nights, but she has to return to her bed when she starts waking up with shooting pain in her lower back. She points out to Minion, who hadn't said anything and hadn't intended to, that it doesn't really _matter_ because Megamind is unconscious and Roxanne's bed is big enough for at least three people.

And it's nice to have someone else there when she wakes up from nightmares of falling and fire, even if that someone is unconscious.

Minion continues to cook and clean despite Roxanne's constant protests, and it becomes almost a ritual between the two of them – Roxanne comes home from work and looks for Minion's latest improvement to her home, insists that he didn't have to, and he in turn insists that she not worry about it and sit down and eat. Before long, her once-empty fridge is stocked with "enough leftovers to feed an army," as she says, due to Minion's habit of making far too much for the two of them.

And during the day, Roxanne goes to the office or out on assignment, since her boss can't deny that she certainly _seems_ fine, and so can't give any valid reason to keep her inside ("Sir, the FMLA is only applicable if I _ask_ for my 12 weeks, and aren't I technically an independent contractor anyway?"). Jo is increasingly comfortable around the brainbots, which is good, because one of the newer bots seems to have taken an interest in her. She also gets it into her head to try to fix Roxanne up with someone new, hoping it will help. Roxanne laughingly deflects her good-natured attempts, making any excuse she can think of to come home early.

Megamind sleeps through it all.

On Sunday, while Roxanne is in clocking up overtime trying to fix the utter _mess_ Titan made of the news station's contact database, the jail calls. The mayor has cleared Megamind of all charges. Apparently, he received an anonymous call from someone who sounded suspiciously like the late Wayne Scott, and this news does wonders for Roxanne's nerves and her attitude toward Metro Man. She goes home earlier than usual to tell Minion, who is so excited that the saucepan and wooden spoon he's holding go through a window. Roxanne really laughs for the first time in what feels like weeks.

Dinner is halfway done that night when Roxanne's doorbell buzzes. Minion retreats quietly to her bedroom and Roxanne goes to the door, intending to tell the nice vacuum repairman for the third time, "thank you, we don't want any."

What comes out is, "Thank…Jo?" She stammers for a second, floored and immediately tense. Jo's expression is guarded, which is something of a rarity and means this isn't social visit. She is a woman on a mission. Roxanne bars the doorway, holding the door in one hand and the frame in the other. "What are you doing here?"

Jo holds out Nibs, and Roxanne is so dumbfounded that she lets go of the doorframe to take the brainbot. "Little guy wouldn't leave me alone, and you weren't answering your cell, so I thought something might be wrong." Nibs _thaum_s at Roxanne once, flashing its lights happily. It is completely calm. "Is everything okay?"

Roxanne freezes, which doesn't happen often. Jo takes advantage of her shock to push her gently aside and wander into the apartment, then stops and stares around.

"Did you move the furniture in here? Where are all your papers? And wow, what is – Roxanne, are you _cooking?_"

Roxanne leaves the door open, a pointed _you're-not-welcome_ sign, and follows her in. "Yes, we moved the furniture around, and the magazines and newspapers have been sorted. Listen, Jo, I really…" She trails off, cocks her head. Jo's expression is almost accusatory. "What?"

Jo's jaw is set, and she looks at Roxanne through narrowed eyes. "Roxie, you don't have to hide him from me."

Roxanne blanches and nearly drops the brainbot. As it is, she barely manages to set it down on a side table. "I – what? Who? Hide who?"

"Your _boyfriend_," Jo says flatly. "Honey, you've cleaned, rearranged everything, and now you're cooking. You've either got a new boyfriend or one heck of a nesting instinct. Are you pregnant?"

"Wha—_no_, I'm not—"

"Then I want to meet him," Jo says, and raises her voice, twists her head to the side to call over her shoulder. "Hey, Roxanne's new boyfriend! Come on out!"

Roxanne grabs her by the arms. "_Jo_," she gasps. Are her ears on fire? Her ears feel like they're on fire. "Jo, please, if you've ever loved me, you will turn around right now and walk out that door."

Jo studies her friend's pale face, frowning harder. "What's wrong? Is he jealous? I knew it." She looks Roxanne over carefully, checking for bruises, and then her eyes fall on the brand-new burn on Roxanne's wrist and she lets out a gasp. "Oh, honey, is _that_ why you've been leaving early and coming straight home? Is he abusing you?"

"_No_," Roxanne cries, releasing Jo in her agitation and running her hands backwards through her hair. She loves Jo, really she does, but her friend has an overdeveloped sense of drama and tends to leap to the worst possible conclusions. Jo has her reasons, _but still_.

She glares at the burn. It isn't even that big. "I got that _cooking_ and he's not my – okay, _maybe?_" She shakes her head wildly. "It's not what you think."

Jo just looks at her.

"Okay," Roxanne says, unconsciously echoing Metro Man. "Okay okay okay. Listen to me for a minute, Jo, please. Yes, my—_boyfriend_ is over, but today is a very bad day for you to come and visit because he's sick. With the flu. Can't get out of bed, so I'm making dinner because he's one of those health food nuts and apparently there are anti-nutrients in takeout – I ask you – and you _know_ I can't cook worth a damn, and that's how I got the burn." She tries to take Jo by the shoulders, tries to steer her towards the door. "And now you have to leave. _Now_."

Jo clamps her lips together and plants her feet, shaking Roxanne off and turning back around. Roxanne is pale and shaking and glaring, but her fists are clenched and her shoulders squared. A couple of half-steps and Jo establishes that the "sick" boyfriend – which she does not believe for a second, thankyouverymuch – is in the bedroom, since Roxanne keeps moving to place herself between Jo and the bedroom door.

But as stubborn as Roxanne is, Jo is more stubborn and stronger, and she lays down her trump card. "Remember Chad?"

Roxanne goes white to the lips. "This is _nothing like_ with Chad." A lie, and she can't really blame Jo for not believing her. She's behaving almost exactly like she used to back when Chad had been living with her – defensive, pretending nothing is wrong, all the while repeating a litany of _leave now, you have to go_, because if Chad comes back or wakes up and finds Jo there he'll be absolutely furious.

"Roxanne, sweetie, you've been vulnerable lately with Wayne dead and – and that Bernard problem. It's okay. But you don't have to keep going for these bad boy types." Jo forges ahead, refusing to let Roxanne protest. "_They will hurt you_. Remember, we went over this? You cannot trust them."

"What happened to, 'it's okay to be scared and worried and confused'?" Roxanne demands, moving to cut Jo off yet again. "And this one is _not_ a bad boy, he just thinks he is." _And wouldn't he just _love_ to hear that_, she adds silently. _He'd hate it. So proud_.

It's the wrong thing to say; Jo's eyes go wide. The last thing Roxanne needs is a wannabe badass with something to prove. "Okay, that is _it_," she says flatly, and she actually tries to push past Roxanne.

"_No!_" Without thinking, Roxanne steps to the right and catches Jo's outstretched arm and her shirt, but that is as far as she gets before Jo swings her captive arm around in a tight circle and sweeps her other up to connect just above Roxanne's elbow, then shoves out and down. Roxanne skips back, but keeps her feet apart and her center of gravity low. She's glad her feet are bare – if she were wearing socks, she would have slid on the floor and maybe fell, and she can't afford to fall.

Megamind had saved her life. More than once, really. And she _will_ protect him now.

"Did you _seriously_," Jo says, and okay, _now_ she's getting mad, "just try to one-arm throw _me?_"

"Maybe." Roxanne grimaces. There will be a dark bruise on her arm tomorrow. "Jo, please. Please, just go. He's not hurting me."

Jo sighs. "Look, Roxie. I understand. You might be right, and if you are, I'll make it up to you, I promise. But this is my duty as a girlfriend, and I hope you'll do the same for me if I'm ever in your situation –"

Roxanne backs up a step as Jo moves forward. "There isn't a situation."

"Uh-huh. Out of the way."

There is no way Roxanne can hope to block Jo if she wants to get through. Jo is smaller than she is but much, much stronger – but Roxanne more than makes up for strength in stubbornness. Minion had been cutting green onions while watching TV earlier that day, and the cutting board and chef's knife are still lying on the coffee table to Roxanne's left. If there's one thing Jo isn't expecting…

Roxanne darts left, snatches the knife, and runs. Years of kidnapping have given her quick reflexes and taught her to be comfortable around sharp things, and she dashes into her bedroom ahead of Jo and slams the door after her.

Minion almost jumps out of his tank when the door slams open. The lights are still off, so all he sees is a brief flash of Roxanne flying, knife in hand, towards Megamind before the room goes dark again. He starts forward. "Miss Rit—"

"Not _now!_"

"But what," and that's all he manages to get out before the door flies open again with a bang and a dark-skinned, dark-haired stranger appears in the doorway.

Jo stares, deeply concerned now more than angry, at Roxanne. Her friend is perched half-on and half-off the edge of the bed, her right leg bent under her in a half crouch, her left braced on the floor for support. More surprising – perhaps equally surprising – than that she went for the knife is that she is holding it like she knows how to use it. Her left arm is out for balance, but her right is bent in front of her, and the back of her hand and the top of her arm are a flat plane. The knife blade is parallel to the floor and perpendicular to the angle of her arm, pointing out at Jo. From where she is standing, she could lunge forward and stab out or bring her arm around and slash inwards.

Reverse edge out is not something Jo ever expected Roxanne to know, and while Jo knows how to handle herself against an armed opponent, she is _not_ going to pull combat moves on _Roxanne_. She stays where she is.

"Roxie, honey," she says carefully, both hands open and in front of her. "Put down the knife."

"Go ahead," Roxanne returns. Her voice is steady. "Turn on the lights." She swallows, well aware that she looks equal parts desperate and insane. She is beyond caring. She has never felt saner in her life.

Jo doesn't move. Seconds tick by. Roxanne tenses.

When it finally becomes apparent that Jo isn't going to make any move towards the switch on the wall, Roxanne grits out two words: "Minion. Lights."

Maybe it's that her voice was low enough, maybe that it was harsh enough, but either way Minion responds immediately. There's a scuffle on the other side of the bed that makes Jo jump, then a click, and the room is abruptly flooded with warm yellow light from Roxanne's bedside lamp.

Jo, who was looking wildly around for the source of the scuffling, sees Minion first. Whatever she had been going to say dies on her lips as she looks up. And up.

"Holy mother." She can't look away. "Is that a fish or a monkey?"

"Gorillas are apes," Roxanne says tersely. "But that's a robotic body. Neuro-controlled cyberkinetics. That's Minion. Minion, meet Jo Andrada, one of my very closest friends. She's trying to protect me. Thinks my _boyfriend_," and she nearly spat the word, "is abusing me."

"Hi," Jo manages.

Minion looks very confused. "But we never hurt you."

Roxanne holds up her injured wrist by way of explanation, and the mortified expression on Minion's face actually helps Jo's peace of mind a lot. "I _said_ I was sorry! I didn't realize you were right behind me and then you said hey and I jumped and I _said_ I was sorry!"

Jo is still gazing fixedly at Minion. "That…_that's_ your boyfriend," she stammers. "Neuro-whatsit terminator robot fish monkey. Ape. Thing."

Slowly forcing herself to relax into a sitting position, Roxanne pulls one of Megamind's hands into her lap with her free hand, presses her thumb to his wrist and feels his pulse thrum against her skin. His breathing is easier now, and most of his color has returned. She exhales.

She probably has nothing to worry about, and she can't imagine actually attacking Jo, but she prefers to be safe rather than sorry. She doesn't set down the knife just yet.

"No," she says, because Minion just looks politely repulsed, and Jo finally tears her gaze away from the fish to find Roxanne glaring defensively at her.

Jo's gaze runs from Roxanne to Megamind's still form and stays there, and Roxanne deliberately interlaces her fingers with Megamind's. Never mind what is and isn't – for once, never mind the labels. Megamind is hers more than anyone else's (except, possibly, Minion's), and Jo might as well draw her own conclusions for the time being.

Jo looks back at Roxanne and the tension ebbs out of her shoulders as everything clicks. "Oh, _honey_. Why didn't you just tell me?"

Roxanne feels her face scrunch up like a scared child's, like Minion's when she'd asked _what if he dies_, and she will not cry, she _will not_ cry because Jo is not freaking out that she let a supervillain and his sidekick stay in her apartment unattended, or that the supervillain is in her bed, she is not trying to drag Roxanne away and stick Megamind behind bars, and Roxanne is so relieved that it almost hurts.

After a long silence, during which Minion is thoroughly confused, Jo blinks down at Megamind's narrow face. "He doesn't look _so_ bad," she says, and the tension in the room dissipates. Roxanne chuckles and puts the chef's knife down on the bedside table.

"Yeah, well, you didn't see him on Monday." She hooks a finger in Megamind's shirt collar and pulls it down and to the side. The worst of his bruises have turned a sick greenish color, but she's pretty sure that's the human equivalent of yellow and it means he's healing.

Jo purses her lips. She is determined not to look surprised by anything else tonight. "How bad was he? Really, I mean."

Roxanne just shakes her head.

"The worst I've ever seen him," Minion says, and Jo jumps about a mile. "He looks a lot better now."

Jo reaches out, glancing from Roxanne to Minion. "Do you mind if I…?"

Minion blinks, but Roxanne shrugs. "Sure, see what you think. Try anything funny and I'll string violins with your intestines," she adds, and Jo snorts and flips her the bird without really looking at her. "It's okay, Minion, she knows what she's doing."

"I wouldn't expect anything less," Jo mutters. "Did you honestly think you could take me in judo?" She moves forward, grips Megamind's jaw and rocks the bone gently from side to side, nodding her approval when his head turns with it. She then tilts his head and runs her fingers over the back of his skull, feeling for irregularities and finding none. Then she notices the bundle supporting Megamind's neck and stifles a grin, but her eyebrows give her away. "You gave him Mars?"

Roxanne colors. "Well, we had to use _something_."

"So you gave him Mars," Jo murmurs, shaking her head. "I'll be damned."

"Mars?" Minion asks.

"The dog," Jo explains, pointing at the ragged stuffed animal sticking out from between Megamind's shoulder and ear. "Roxanne's had him since she was a baby. Nobody, and I mean _nobody_, touches Mars. Ever. Except, apparently," and she turns to send a significant grin in Roxanne's direction, "for Megamind. Care to explain?"

"This means nothing," Roxanne insists. "I'm an adult, I'm not half as possessive of my things anymore."

Another snort from Jo tells her that her friend isn't buying that, either. "Okay."

"Um, Miss Andrada," Minion says. "What, exactly, are you doing?"

Jo is in the process of unbuttoning Megamind's shirt. "You know what I did before I was a reporter?" she asks Minion without looking up. "I was a registered nurse in the armed forces. And let me tell you what, I…oh my _God_, Roxanne." She pulls back as the shirt falls open, staring openly. "Have you _seen_ this?"

Roxanne winces. "I…tried not to."

"Mother of God," Jo swears. "This is incredible!" She is torn between horror at the mess of bruises – _definitely some broken ribs, here, but they've almost healed_ – and intrigue at how much seems to have healed already. Intrigue wins out. "_Titan_ did all this? What was that – a week ago? Never mind the extent of this damage, how fast does this guy _heal?_"

"Really quickly," Minion tells her. "We're pretty tough."

"I'll say." Jo's eyebrows have disappeared again. "He really ought to have these x-rayed, though."

"He's had broken ribs before, Miss Andrada." Both women look up at Minion in surprise. He shrugs. "We were fifteen. After our first real battle with Scott. I don't think Scott realized how badly he could physically hurt Megamind until it was too late. It was…bad. Not as bad as this, but it was the only time I've seen the Warden keep a vigil."

"Scott?" Jo echoes, but Roxanne blinks.

Excitedly, she points towards the window. "Minion, would Wayne know if something could be done for Megamind?"

It is Minion's turn to blink. "I doubt it," he says, and he certainly _sounds_ dubious. "Even if he _could_ help, and I very much doubt he would if he could…unless you're into necromancy, I don't really see how you could get Metro Man's hypothetical input. And I wouldn't trust it if you could."

It takes a minute for Roxanne to figure out why the usually-friendly little fish sounds so _bitter_, and then she remembers what Metro Man had told her about when he and "Blue" had gone to school together as children. Small wonder Minion wouldn't harbor any good feelings towards the person who had pretty much singlehandedly destroyed any hope of human friendship his master might have had.

"Right," she says quietly. "Sorry, Minion."

He waves the apology aside. "'Sokay, Miss Ritchi. I know you liked him."

"Okay!" Jo exclaims, and the other two jump and look around at her. Megamind's shirt is back in place. "So. I suppose I should head home, huh? Minion, it was…ah, it was nice meeting you." She sticks out her hand to shake.

He looks at it, then back up at her face. "If I didn't know better, Miss Andrada, I would say you think you aren't going to stay for dinner."

Roxanne hides a smile.

Jo's mouth opens, then closes. "What?"

"You're staying for dinner, of course. It's the first time I've done anything with beef tongue, and I need somebody other than Miss Ritchi to tell me how it is, because _she_ won't tell me if it's bad."

"Minion, _nothing_ you make is bad."

"You see? I need an unbiased control group."

Roxanne rolls her eyes. "And we're into the experiment analogies. All right, you two. _Out_," and she drags Jo out of the room. Minion turns out the light, then follows, pulling the door shut after him.

And Megamind sleeps on.

0-0-0-0-0-0

Getting ready for bed, Roxanne has to admit that she feels a lot more relaxed knowing that someone else knows about Megamind. That Jo is okay with the idea that Roxanne and Megamind might be together in the future is _wonderful_.

She replays the conversation they'd had in the hall just before Jo left to go home after dinner and drinks and more rounds of Boggle than could possibly be legal (Minion had won almost every time).

"You're sure you don't care?"

Jo hugged her. "Honey, you were ready to protect him no matter what it took. Say what you will, but I know you better than that. You don't get that way about just anybody."

"I owe him my life," Roxanne argued. "It's only fair that I defend his."

Jo sighed. "Let me ask you something. When you found out the truth about who he was, what did you say? What was your reaction?"

Roxanne gaped for a minute, trying to gage where Jo was going with this. "I…I ran. He followed me, said something cliché like 'I can explain everything.' Something about judging books by their covers, and I said to judge people by their actions…" That wasn't what Jo meant, and Roxanne knew it. She bit her lip. "I asked if he really thought I'd ever be with him. He said no. I left."

Jo nodded. "I figured it would be something like that. Do you regret it?"

She didn't need to think about that one. She'd regretted it as soon as she'd said it. "Yes."

"_Good_," Jo said firmly, surprising Roxanne. "Good, because that's a horrible thing to say. To anybody. Now, about judging people by their actions." Her dark eyes narrowed, and Roxanne couldn't meet her gaze. "You told me last week that 'Bernard' was…how did you put it? Everything Megamind couldn't let himself be in front of people? So whose actions are you going to judge?"

Up went the eyebrows. Roxanne let out a long breath. "Okay, yes, I get it."

"Good," said Jo again. "After all the crap you've been through lately, you deserve to be happy. You've already acknowledged it to yourself, I can tell, so stop worrying about whether you _should_ or not and just go with it." She smirked. "You aren't worried about what people will say, are you?"

Roxanne laughed. "Well. Just you."

"I should certainly hope so," said Jo. "All right, hon. Work's early tomorrow and some of us gotta sleep tonight. Ciao."

And of course Jo is right. Whether she _should_ feel X or Y isn't important. The facts are the facts, whether or not they should be, and Roxanne has already accepted that how she feels about Megamind is not something she can just deny because she thinks she should. And she _doesn't_ think she should.

It will be difficult, but since when has Roxanne's life been _easy?_ For that matter, when has Megamind's life been easy?

_Difficulty_, she thinks, _will not be a problem_.

She crawls into bed and turns out the light, and falls asleep to Megamind's slow, steady breathing.


	6. Chapter 6

My wrists are feeling a bit better! Still going to take a break after this fic, though. I will keep writing, just not as…quickly, probably. :3 Thank you all so much for your concern, and the wonderful reviews, and everything. Also, if I'm late updating tomorrow, I apologize – I'm going out of town for the weekend, and I can't always connect to the internet where I'm going, but I will do my best, I promise.

Also, I'm really sorry about chapter 3 – I didn't realize how badly ffnet would mess up Nibs' speech (ff thought a lot of it was web addresses). That's been fixed, so if what Nibs was trying to say was confusing before, it should be a bit clearer now. Sorry about that.

And now, without any further ado…

**Chapter 6**

Megamind knows it is 5:27 AM on Tuesday without having to open his eyes. He knows that he still hurts a little despite the fact that his ribs have knit and his muscles are no longer torn. He knows he is not in Evil Lair, and he knows he is not in Metro Jail. Wherever he is has almost-silent central air conditioning – recently repaired, judging by the lack of irregularity in the faint hum – and smells of cloves and cut grass.

Regarding where he is, that is the sum total of what he knows at this point in time. It isn't much to go on.

He inhales experimentally, wiggles his toes.

Whatever he is lying on is _soft_, and he spends nearly six whole seconds trying to figure out what it is. He establishes fairly quickly that it is a bed and that he is lying on the left-hand side, but if the mattress is a box spring it is probably covered in several layers of feathers. Possibly that memory-foam stuff. Possibly both.

He frowns, prods at the mattress with the fingers of his left hand because his right feels inexplicably heavy, moving as little as possible and keeping his eyes closed.

Scratch that. _Definitely_ both.

Okay, what is he _wearing?_ It is _not_ his suit, that's for sure, although without moving around more he won't be able to tell what it is.

Last to come to his attention – and that annoys him, because really, it _should_ have been first – is that, holy god, there is someone in the bed _with him_. That is almost enough to send him scrambling for higher ground, but he stays where he is with an effort and rolls his head to the right. And opens his eyes.

_Dark_, he thinks, and then, _Oh, yes, _very _astute, "dark." Well done, super-genius. It's 5:27AM and you're indoors; of course it's going to be dark_.

Sarcasm aside, he is in a soft bed in a dark place with central air, and it doesn't quite smell like a hotel room. It smells lived-in. It actually smells _familiar_, and his nostrils flare briefly as he tries to place it before he finally decides he's had enough. He rolls his head to the other side, noting that there is something scratchy on the back of his neck and it feels _weird_, and waves his hand around until it hits something. _Ah-ha_, he thinks. _Desk lamp_.

He pulls the cord, making sure to muffle the _ch-click_ as best he can. He blinks as his eyes adjust to the sudden light (energy saving bulb, 12-watt, and he doesn't have to think about how he knows it), then squints at what looks like a large knife on the side table. Yes, it's definitely a knife. He shrugs inwardly, then pulls the scratchy thing out from under his neck.

It looks like a stuffed…dog? Is it a dog? If it is, it's a very old, very well-loved one. One-eyed and ragged, the way it sticks its tongue out at him strikes him as being very cheeky.

_This is weird_.

And then he tips his head back over and looks to his right again, and that is when the weird factor skyrockets, goes _through the roof_, because that is _Roxanne_ lying next to him, close against his side without actually touching, all curvy and soft and sleepy and _warm_, and the reason his right hand won't move is that she's got hold of it.

He snaps his head back to its original position, unaware that his grip on the stuffed thing is white-knuckled and he is clutching it to his aching chest.

_This is exactly how I want to start the next chapter of my life_, he thinks. _With a panic attack and eleven million questions_.

He doesn't mind the 'waking up next to Roxanne' bit. _That_ is actually rather pleasant once the initial shock wears off a little, and he thinks he wouldn't mind maybe getting used to it before he remembers that there is no chance of that happening at all, ever.

Well.

A very small chance. He _is_ in her bed. Presumably she is the one who put him there.

5:29 AM. What is the last thing he remembers? Ah, yes, the detox chamber, dictating that ridiculous letter to Nibs because he thought he remembered she was fond of Nibs, and thinking how very awkward he sounds – not like himself at all, so disorganized and almost rambling, and _she's going to hate me for this_ so he added that part about how to call off the brainbots.

Did he apologize? He can't remember, and that unsettles him. He is accustomed to being able to remember quite literally everything. He remembers he had _meant_ to. Well, even if he did, he probably ought to again. Several times.

And then it is 5:30 and everything is shrieking and _loud_ and he bolts upright with a scream.

"_Ow_," Roxanne yelps, "_ow, stoppit_," and Megamind realizes he is crushing her hand. Another mortified noise escapes him and he almost flings her hand away, and then he freezes because now he's hurt her physically and he is just sleep-muddled and disoriented enough to think that hurting Roxanne even by accident will bring on the end of the world. Roxanne flips over and bats frantically at her alarm clock, and for a few more seconds, all is just absolute chaos.

Finally she simply rips the damned thing out of the wall and flings it across the room. It lands in a pile of extra blankets and pillows with a muffled thump, and finally, _finally_ the room is silent.

Megamind is still frozen, but he is sitting up and his thin chest is heaving and his eyes are open – okay, they're like saucers and he's staring straight ahead, but still, he's _awake_. His right hand is outflung and Mars is dangling from his left, and the tendons in his neck stand out like whipchord.

A flutter of motion, and suddenly Mars is in his right hand and extended towards Roxanne, who is lying propped up on one elbow. Other than that, he hasn't moved. Slowly, Roxanne takes Mars, and as soon as Megamind feels a tug his fingers snap open and he jerks his hand away as if he is afraid he will burn her.

A long, long minute passes.

"…Megamind?"

He shudders like a machine cranking to life, then squeezes his eyes shut and rubs one hand over the side of his face, forces himself to relax a little.

"Ow," he says hoarsely, and Roxanne immediately sits up.

"What? What hurts?"

"_Everything_," he mutters. Is that _his_ voice? That is _not_ his voice. He clears his throat. "No, I'm okay. Just…surprised. I think." There, that sounds better. "What _was_ that?"

A hysterical little laugh bubbles out of her. "My alarm clock."

He slumps, rubs both hands over his face. "Okay, first thing," he mumbles, "I am building you a new alarm clock. One that _doesn't_ sound like a panic siren."

"Oh, really? And who says you're allowed to build me anything?" She had meant it to sound joking, but she's tired and it falls short of the mark. Megamind stiffens for a moment, then nods.

"You're right. Of course. I'm sorry. It isn't worth much but I _am_ sorry."

"Yes, you said that." She gazes at him for a moment. "Aside from everything hurting, how's your structural integrity?"

He looks at her then, surprise written all over his features. "That's kind of a clinical way to ask someone how he's feeling, isn't it?"

Her mouth quirks into an amused half-smile. "Maybe. I was just remembering Nibs' data search for your medical background. Cross-reference structural integrity with blunt force trauma, or something like that."

Megamind frowns, and realizes he is clutching the blankets in both white-knuckled fists. He releases them with a concentrated effort, smoothing them down with shaking hands that are very blue against the stark white of the sheet. "You tried to access my medical files?"

"This was before I got your note telling me not to worry." Roxanne frowns right back, looking almost irritated. "Did you _really_, honestly think I _wouldn't_ worry if you disappeared for a week and a half?"

He shrugs. The movement pulls at his chest, but it doesn't really hurt and he ignores it. "There didn't seem to be any reason for you to."

"News flash, genius," she says, and those words might have sounded sarcastic coming from someone else, but from her it sounds almost like she's trying to banter. "Friends worry about each other when they disappear. Especially after one of them has just been stepped on and punched by a guy with super-strength. You were worried about sending me a note?" She shakes her head. "I would have been angry if you _hadn't_ sent it."

He frowns. "I thought it would seem pre-sump-toos of me."

Roxanne's lips twitch, but she says nothing about his pronunciation. "If _I_ disappeared suddenly, would _you_ worry?"

Megamind recoils. "Of course."

She raises her eyebrows and gives her head a little shake, as if to say, _well then_.

"But you—" He cuts himself off before he can go any further. "Never mind."

Roxanne doesn't press him. For a moment, they sit in silence.

Then she is moving. She is moving _towards_ him, and now she's lying back down and pulling on the sleeve of his shirt and he is lying down too before he can think about it, and _what is this?_

"Seriously, now, how are your ribs? Are they still broken?"

"No, they just hurt a little. They probably won't even do that, tomorrow." He is amazed by how very _calm_ he sounds. Like his old self, like nothing ever happened, but he can't come up with a smart remark to save his life.

"Good," says Roxanne, and presses herself along his side. Her face is against his _neck_.

"Um."

"Is this okay?" she asks, and a little thrill runs through him when her breath ghosts over his neck and shoulder. Yes, this is okay. This is better than okay. He's just woken up and he's wildly confused but yes, this is better than okay.

"It's fine."

"Because I can move, if it bothers you. I didn't exactly _ask_ –"

"No!" He tries to cut off the rest of what he wants to say, and fails. "No, you're _fine_. This is…unexpected, but no, it's not _unwelcome_. Quite the opposite, in fact." Why can't he stop talking? He's going to embarrass himself in a minute, and he clamps his mouth shut.

A few seconds tick by.

"Okay, you're new to this, can I try something?"

Hesitantly, Megamind nods, and Roxanne lifts his arm up and squirms under it. And lies back down, _right up against him_, with her head on his shoulder, and his arm holding her against his side. "Is this okay?" she says again. "I don't know about your collarbone…"

"I don't have collarbones," is the first thing out of his mouth, and he nearly kicks himself. Where had _that_ come from?

Roxanne pauses. "Are you serious?"

"…No. I'm not," Megamind admits, and now she's _laughing_.

She is lying down with him, _cuddling_ with him, and she is fully aware of who he is, and she is _laughing_. Never in a million years had he ever thought this would happen. He is afraid to move, almost, for fear she decides to get up and do whatever her alarm clock had been set for – work, probably – but after a minute or so he is beginning to cramp up and so he says, "Um. This is. But. Can I?"

Her only answer is to lift herself up a bit, so he shifts around for a half-second and bends a little into a more comfortable position. "Okay," he says, hoping—_yes_, and she fits herself more securely against him and burrows back down into his shoulder.

"Okay?"

"Okay."

After a minute of thrilled silence, Roxanne says, "Minion sleeps like a rock, doesn't he?"

Megamind chuckles. "He does, that. I keep him on his toes so much that he tends to sleep extra deeply when he manages to catch a few hours. I keep telling him, he doesn't have to stay up with me, I can take care of myself, but he never listens." As he is speaking, one of his hands comes up to tentatively touch her hair. It happens quite by accident, and when he realizes what he's doing he nearly shies away, but Roxanne hums and drapes an arm over his middle.

At some point, Megamind's other arm, the one that was along Roxanne's back, ended up wrapped around her waist. He isn't sure when that happened but she doesn't seem upset by it, and Megamind decides right then and there that whatever is going to happen to him today can just go find someone else to happen to, because he is _never moving again_. Because this, right here, this is _perfect_.

The minutes tick by. He doesn't have to count them. Roxanne's head is heavy on his shoulder, and he bends his head a little and closes his eyes but wills himself to stay awake. He has to memorize how this feels, how she feels against him, because he cannot allow himself to hope this will happen a second time. He doesn't dare.

He may have rescued her once, but he knows perfectly well she doesn't owe him anything. Especially not for that. They might as well chalk it up towards an apology for kidnapping her all those times. And he had to get rid of Titan _anyway_. And her saying she looked back does not necessarily mean that all is forgiven, either – there is still the 'who says you're allowed to build me anything' to consider, in addition to the 'did you really think that I would ever be with you.' The answer to that is still no, he didn't, and no, he doesn't.

But she's making _not_ hoping awfully difficult, wrapped around him like she is.

There is a tightness in his throat and chest that has nothing to do with his injuries, and he steels himself with an effort. He has to put an end to this, no matter how badly he wants to stay.

"Roxanne, what was your alarm clock set for?"

There's a long pause, and then Roxanne heaves a sigh and sits up. "I have to go to work."

"At 5:30 in the morning?"

She nods. "There's a professor at Metro University who figure's he's worked out how to fix the problems with chemically-assisted nuclear reactions. Said he could meet with me at 6:30."

Megamind outright stares at her. As sorry as he is that he is no longer holding her, he is almost equally relieved that here, _finally_, is something he knows about, something solid for him to hold onto in the midst of all the strangeness. "Chemically-assisted…_cold fusion?_" He sounds baffled. "Why would he _bother?_"

Roxanne stares back. "You've heard of this?"

"Of course I've 'heard of it,'" Megamind replies scathingly, sitting up now as well. "But there's no point in trying to figure it out, not unless you're going to go all the way." His lip curls, and Roxanne gets the distinct feeling that this is a bit of a sore spot for him. "Has this…_professor_ sent you any kind of paper on the subject? A publication or a report?"

Another nod. "I read it through twice last night to get some ideas for the interview."

Megamind raises his eyebrows and gives his head a little shake, as if to say, _And…?_

Roxanne shrugs. "Clear as mud. Something about three miracles?"

Megamind is really scowling now. "I want to read it."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

When Roxanne gets out of her shower, Megamind is nowhere to be seen. The grey pajamas are folded neatly at the foot of Roxanne's bed, which has been made up. Shrugging, she puts on the clothes she had laid out last night, carefully chosen to play up today's subject – a brown A-line skirt over a white button-up blouse, modestly sleeveless. Understated makeup, unobtrusive jewelry, closed-toed pumps. Not all reporters work along the same lines as Roxanne, but she tries to dress to match the stories she covers.

Megamind isn't in the living room, either, and she wonders briefly if he just took the paper and left, but Minion is still fast asleep in the corner. Megamind wouldn't leave without Minion.

She finds him sitting on her kitchen counter next to a bowl of dry Fruit Loops, with a badly-blackened piece of toast in one hand and the scientific journal in the other, horrified amusement etched all over his blue face. He is wearing his usual gear, but his feet are bare.

He sends a cursory glance her way when she walks in, then turns back to the journal. "You look like a schoolteacher."

"Good," she replies, "that's what I was going for."

Megamind blinks up again, momentarily puzzled before comprehension spreads over his features. "What…ah. Presentation. I approve," and back he goes. The toast disappears behind the paper, and she hears crunching.

"Surely you aren't actually _eating_ that," she says.

"Carbohydrates," he says, holding up the toast, and then he nods at the Fruit Loops. "Sugar."

She takes the eggs out of her refrigerator and a pan out of the cupboard. "Protein," she tells him firmly. "If I make it, will you eat it?"

Megamind glances at her, green eyes bright with humor and something he'd rather not name, but she has turned towards the stove and doesn't see. Perhaps that's just as well. "If you make it," he says as he goes back to the journal, "I will eat it."

A few seconds later, he bursts out laughing. "Have you _read_ this?"

Roxanne frowns, cracking eggs into the pan. "It sounded pretty dry to me."

"_Look_," says Megamind as he puts down the journal. "Ask him how he compensates for Draviadya's Corollary to Phaeton's Law. Just you ask him _that_. Because he's using Uberwald's Coefficient to support his hypothesis, and he makes _no mention_ of Draviadya anywhere in here." Megamind is waving the toast around like a conductor with a baton. "He also says he hopes to build a reactor in the near future to start producing energy for the university – all well and good, I say, but ask him this: How does he expect to contain the inevitable coronal mass ejection resulting from a kinetic energy overload of the circulating currents?"

Roxanne can only stare. Megamind's face is lit up with laughter, and she is certain he's speaking English, but she has no idea what he has just said. "I can't ask him that." She shakes her head. "I don't know what it means."

Megamind curls one leg under him and turns his body towards her so he doesn't have to crane his head around. "Here's the thing. I very much doubt he got this news coverage through any valid scientific merit. This Anderson fellow is a comparatively young guy, only in his mid-thirties, with no doctorate and no major recognition in the scientific community as of yet." He takes another bite of the sad-looking toast and munches enthusiastically before continuing, shedding crumbs everywhere. "He probably got your coverage by throwing around terms like 'viable alternative source of fuel' and 'green energy' and 'low budget.' Probably called your station directly, am I right? Of course I'm right."

Roxanne raises and lowers one shoulder. Her boss had said, 'call this guy,' so she'd called the guy and set up a time for an interview.

Megamind takes the shrug as an indication that he's correct. "Okay, listen to me. What he _wants_ to do is not build a cold-fusion reactor. He abandoned that fairly early in the report – I don't know why, it's certainly an admirable pursuit and once you hammer out the kinks you can't do much better than cold fusion – but based on his discussion, he wants to recreate the conditions found on the surface of Earth's sun. The problem with that goal is that those specific conditions are supported by the conditions _inside_ the sun."

The eggs are beginning to congeal in the pan. Roxanne has never bothered to learn the art of frying, and she scootches them absently around with a plastic spatula. She has ruined enough Teflon frying pans to know not to use metal. "So it won't work."

But Megamind shakes his head. "No, that's the problem, it _could_ work. Assuming he has a source of magnetic energy strong enough to serve as a containment field, as he proposes – and I would dearly love to see him try to contain _this_ with _magnets_ – it could work beautifully for a period of about three years, at which point the circulating currents would overload and his reactor would fail with a magnificent _bang_." He blows out his cheeks and throws his hands in the air. The toast breaks in half and goes flying.

"Poof!" he cries. "No more Eastern Seaboard."

Roxanne glances sideways at him, trying not to laugh. "Do I detect the voice of experience behind that statement?"

Megamind's eyes go huge. "Absolutely not." He hops down from the counter to search for the other half of his toast. "I'm not foolish enough to go tinkering around with what's inside _stars_. I use a combination of cold and muon-catalyzed fusion."

"Muon…catalyzed?" Roxanne has heard cold fusion mentioned in b-movies, but she is very sure she's never heard of a muon in her life.

Megamind grimaces, bright green eyes flicker-flicking over the hardwood floor. "Don't…don't mention that to the press? I use it to power the lab and I don't want a bunch of nuclear physicists banging on my door day and night demanding to know how I've managed to collect enough muons to make the process feasible. Excuse me." Roxanne skips to the side as Megamind drops to his hands and knees with hardly any warning. He locates the toast under the stove, and gives it up as a lost cause. No way is he going to eat _that_.

Roxanne shakes her head and scrapes the eggs onto two plates, then hands one of them to Megamind when he stands back up again. "You're the expert."

"That's right, I _am_ the expert." He sounds and looks very gleefully self-satisfied, and Roxanne can't help but return the half-manic grin he sends her. "I just don't want anybody else thinking _they_ are. Do you have any ketchup?"

She gives it to him and watches as he squirts an unholy amount onto his plate and mixes it around with the back of his fork. Roxanne does not eat ketchup with her eggs and has always been very slightly judgmental of those who do, but Megamind is just so _enthusiastic_ about it that it doesn't even matter. It's grossly adorable, in a way.

_I am standing in my kitchen, eating breakfast with a blue formerly-criminal mastermind and chatting about particle physics at six o'clock in the morning. I am in a universe where that is actually _happening_._

After a while, she clears her throat. "So, what was it you wanted me to ask him?"

Megamind waves the question aside and continues to inhale his breakfast. "It's okay, you won't remember it. Too many big words."

Roxanne raises an eyebrow. Part of being a good reporter is having an outstanding memory, and Roxanne is no exception. _Add that to the list of things to thank Ms. Krishnan for_, she thinks ruefully. "Are you calling me stupid?"

Megamind chokes, then gulps reflexively, swallowing a mouthful of eggs before he's really chewed them. "Ow. No. I'm just saying that these are very precise questions and they have to be worded correctly…" He trails off. Roxanne is staring straight at him, eyes narrowed, challenging him.

He is well-acquainted with Roxanne's take-no-prisoners face. He sighs. "How does he compensate for Draviadya's Corollary to Phaeton's Law, and how does he expect to contain the inevitable coronal mass ejection resulting from a kinetic energy overload of the circulating currents mentioned on page 17?" He watches her lips move as she attempts to memorize this. "You can even tell him I'm the one who wants to know, if you aren't comfortable asking."

"We'll see," Roxanne replies. "All right, I'm going to go brush my teeth and then I'm off. If you need anything, help yourself. Will you be here when I come back?"

Megamind shakes his head. "Possibly, but I doubt it. I need to get back to the lair and see how things are progressing with the cleanup and rebuild." A thought occurs suddenly; she can see it hit him. "And when someone asks – and someone will – tell them I'm only allowing the brainbots to repair damage _I_ caused, directly and indirectly. Because those damages occurred due to a sudden and unexpected outside force, the brainbots' assistance should not affect normal production levels and not have any lasting effects on the economy."

She had _known_ he would think of that. "Got it." She heads towards the hallway, but his voice calls her back.

"Roxanne?"

She turns, then blinks. Something in Megamind's face has changed slightly. For a moment, he looks almost awkward. Almost shy, if Megamind _could_ be shy. It takes Roxanne a moment to place it before she realizes that it's an expression she is accustomed to seeing on Bernard's face.

The eyes are the same, though.

He ducks his head. "Thank you for letting me stay here."

She smiles. "If you do end up leaving today, Minion has a key. You're welcome to come back anytime if you need a break."

_Then_ she leaves, quickly, wondering what on Earth had possessed her to issue a standing invitation to Megamind. Not that it matters. She isn't about to retract it.

Her words catch him by surprise, too – he sits frozen on her counter for a few seconds, staring after her. So she _does_ want him in her life, to some degree. He knows her well enough by now to know sincerity when he hears it.

He can feel the goofy grin spreading over his face, but makes no attempt to stop it. He finishes his breakfast, scrubs his plate to within an inch of its life, and then goes to wake up Minion.


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry so late!

I should probably add here that the science in this fic is mostly fake science based on valid hypotheses and terminology…cold fusion _is_ kind of a controversial topic in some circles, and muon-catalyzed fusion is possible but difficult and inefficient because muons are difficult to collect in large enough amounts. The laws and coefficients and corollaries I mentioned are totally fictitious. Most of the other terms and concepts were drawn from a report I found through google.

tl;dr – if there are any nuclear or particle physicists in the audience, I apologize profusely for the pseudoscience. I'm an accounting major. I don't actually know what I'm talking about.

Love and hugs, you fantastic fellow fans, you!

**Chapter 7**

The interview airs three days later, in the morning. Megamind suspects people are getting tired of the same old stories about rebuilding and what to tell various insurance companies – very little else would explain the speedy release. He watches it, interested in spite of himself. He tells himself that he _shouldn't_ be interested, since Professor Anderson is probably a hack, but this is something he _knows_ about and Roxanne is the one reporting.

The interview goes…not _badly_, but it could have gone better. Megamind knows Roxanne cannot stand pretension, and the young professor is _more_ than pretentious, and Megamind can almost see her struggling to resist the urge to antagonize.

"…Not sure why the scientific community hasn't looked further into cold fusion before," Professor Anderson is saying, and _oh_, he sounds smug. It wouldn't be hard to at least _sound_ earnestly amused, but no, he sounds smug. What's worse, he seems to know it. "Obviously, it isn't the impossibility they all think it is. Well, Miss Ritchie, do you have any questions?"

She hadn't been going to ask, but the unspoken and obvious _of-course-you-don't_ in his tone is more than a little bit provoking. She glances down at her notes, crosses one leg over the other. "Actually, yes. I noticed you've used Uberwald's Coefficient in several of your equations, but I couldn't find how you've compensated for Draviadya's Corollary to Phaeton's Law." She leans back a little bit, frowning. "_Obviously_, I'm not an expert in this field so it's possible I missed your explanation, but I couldn't find any mention of Draviadya in your report."

Anderson blinks. "I…um. The terms of my hypothesis rendered Draviadya's Corollary invalid. I didn't need to consider it."

"Wrong," Megamind says aloud. He is grinning from ear to ear.

Roxanne arches an eyebrow. "Are you sure?" she asks. Her tone is still politely inquisitive; only someone who knew her well would be able to detect the steel under it. "Phaeton's Law is one of the three universal laws. Wouldn't any corollaries to a universal law be universal by extension?"

"It would appear so at first glance, but once you get into higher-level physics the universality breaks down a bit."

His recovery is quick, Megamind will give him that, but he can tell Anderson is unsettled. He's trying to snow Roxanne, trying to tell her she's too stupid to understand, and Megamind knows from years of experience that _that_ won't work. Roxanne glances down at her notes again. "One more question, Professor, and then I'm afraid we'll have to wrap this up."

"Of course."

"On page seventeen, you mention regulation of circulating currents. How do you plan to contain the inevitable coronal mass ejection resulting from a kinetic energy overload of those currents?"

Anderson laughs at that. "That's not the sort of thing I'd expect a reporter to ask."

"No, it isn't," she agrees, and waits.

Finally he sighs. "The dampening fields I outline on page nineteen should take care of any overloads."

"_Oh come on_," Megamind scoffs. "Your dampeners were modeled after the conditions on the _sun_."

Onscreen, to his surprise, Roxanne has just said something similar. _She's quick_.

"That's true enough," Anderson agrees.

"The sun emits solar flares regardless of any naturally-occurring dampening fields," Roxanne points out, and then, when Anderson freezes for a second, adds, "I think I must have missed something else. I mean," and offers up a bright little chuckle that sounds _nothing_ like her, "I'm just a reporter, after all." Her smile is all teeth, and Megamind actually laughs aloud. It's nice not to be on the receiving end of that smile – actually, watching her put someone _else_ in his place for once is pretty funny.

Anderson's answering smile is brittle. "Yes, well, there were several contingency plans mentioned. They're very specific, though, so I'm not surprised you missed them."

It's a good thing the show isn't live, or Megamind would be on the phone and calling in. If there's one thing he absolutely _cannot_ stand, it's a smug, smirking, holier-than-thou _liar_.

Roxanne raises her eyebrows and closes the interview for the sake of the camera, but Megamind is reaching for his phone and doesn't notice.

_I'm going to invert his kneecaps_, he texts, and hits send.

Fifteen seconds later, _who?_

_Anderson. For his students' sakes._

_he was a bit of an ass, yes_

Megamind grins, and types out, _What are you doing later?_

But then he hesitates, smile fading. He brushes a thumb over the send button before deleting it. Because really, he has no business asking that.

A minute later, his phone beeps.

_what are your plans for today?_

And he stares at it for a full half a minute, trying to work out what that means. It might mean the same as what _he_ had meant, but he isn't even _sure_ what he had meant, or whether his current train of thought is even making any sense. Finally he just shakes his head. _Not much. Brainstorming. Why?_

A pause. Beep. _you have time for lunch?_

It's not a mention of a date, specifically, but Megamind can't keep the smile off his face. Yes, absolutely, he has time for lunch. And dinner. And everything in between. But what he says is, _Where and when? :)_

_the park. usual spot. Noon?_

Texting is nice. There's no way for Roxanne to see or hear just how _happy_ this makes him. He has his pride, after all. _Sounds good._

There is no response, after that, and after waiting for a little bit he goes off in search of Minion. He needs a distraction. There's no _way_ he'll be able to come up with anything halfway decent with this on his mind.

What is he supposed to _wear?_ He can't go around in his usual leathers. For one thing, he's still trying to stay more or less out of the public eye, and for another, it's July. Even for him, spending any amount of time outdoors on a sunny July day in full supervillain regalia is a miserable idea. Street clothes, then? Shorts and t-shirts seem to be the norm for human males, but Megamind will be damned before he wears _shorts_.

Jeans, then? After a few seconds' consideration, he has to admit that jeans would probably be the safest option for him.

Does he even _have_ jeans? It isn't like he's needed them before.

He realizes then that he is _dithering_, and is appalled. He _never_ dithers. He makes decisions, and stands by them until the bitter end. Sometimes he makes the wrong one, but so far that's only helped secure his reputation as a half-mad super-genius.

His reputation, which matters _peanuts_ right now. He's never had to worry about social norms or other people's preferences before unless it's in terms of violation. "Min—" he begins, then stops. Minion is out running errands, picking up spare parts from nearby junkyards.

The only other person he could possibly call for advice is Wayne, and he isn't yet so desperate that he'll call Metro Man for _dating advice_. Or any other advice, for that matter. He groans. This was all so much easier when he was pretending to be Bernard.

He looks up. _Bernard_.

Bernard could work. Megamind doesn't know whether Roxanne wants him to go as himself or as Bernard, but he'll be safe as Bernard. Besides, it will look bad if Roxanne is seen in public with the villain who – as far as anyone knows – murdered her 'boyfriend.'

He glances at his watch. 11:15. There is time to run out and get normal-people clothing before he has to meet Roxanne.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

He is a good fifteen minutes early to the bench where 'Bernard' and Roxanne always met, safe behind the mask and comfortable – well, as comfortable-_ish_ as he can manage – in new jeans and a plain short-sleeved shirt, both of which fit fairly tightly because the looser clothes he had tried had felt downright _bizarre_. They had _bunched_. He isn't used to clothing that bunches, and had ended up getting what felt closest to his leathers.

He isn't quite sure about the shoes, the _flippe-floppes_, but the saleswoman had insisted they would be more comfortable for summer heat than boots would be. They certainly are cooler, but he can feel the wind on his feet and it feels weird.

And his neck is exposed, which he _does not like_. He is touchy about his neck. Thank God that Bernard wore a turtleneck and people can't _see_ him – no, they only see a man wearing a turtleneck sweater and suit jacket in July, which isn't odd _at all_ – but the illusion doesn't project tactile sensations on the wearer, and the t-shirt is scoop-necked. His _collarbones_ are bare, and that is not okay.

He feels naked. How, he wonders, can those girls over there wander around in shirts with sleeves made of _string_ and shorts that barely – _all right, _that_ one's shirt doesn't even _have_ sleeves, what even is this?_

So it could be worse. Scratch 'drag queen' off the list of possible disguises. He figures if he's ever in a situation where he has to pretend to be a drag queen, blending in will probably be the least of his worries.

"You look unhappy."

He jumps and looks around frantically, then up at Roxanne, whose shirt – hooray – has sleeves. And her shorts – _no, they aren't shorts, what are those? I know there is a word for what those are_ – cover her knees. She looks very normal, except for the dark smudges under her eyes. Megamind relaxes slightly. "I am very happy," he says, and it's true. "I'm just not comfortable."

At her questioning glance, he explains, "It's too hot for leather."

Roxanne blinks. "Do you even _have_ other clothes?"

"I do _now_," he mutters, plucking at his shirt and completely missing her sigh of relief. "I don't know if I like them, though. My neck…" He trails off with a delicate shudder and looks back up at her. "Never mind. It doesn't matter."

Roxanne chuckles. "All right, then." She nudges his leg with her knee, and he scoots over to make room on the bench. "I have to admit, I wasn't expecting to see Bernard again."

Megamind winces. "I, ah. I wasn't sure if you should be seen in public with me." He hesitates for a moment. Might as well go all the way, he thinks, and finishes, "Or if you would _want_ to be seen in public with me. I figured this was safest, for now."

Roxanne nods. "I see. Thank you."

And there isn't much Megamind can do but jump to the worst possible conclusion, since this is already really too good to be true. The fact that she even still wants to associate with him is beyond unbelievable, for him. So he'll have to wear Bernard from now on, so what? He'll take what he can—

"Hey," Roxanne says suddenly, and he glances over to find that she is staring at him, hard. "I meant, thanks for thinking about what people would say if they saw us together. You already know what _I_ think about judging by appearances."

"That's on principle, though," he says before he can stop himself, and shrugs. "It's all right, really."

"It is _not_ on principle." She actually sounds offended. "You know me better than that. What about judging books by their covers?"

He doesn't say anything to that. He isn't sure what he's _supposed_ to say, honestly.

Suddenly she is laughing. "You wear your heart on your sleeve, did you know that?" Shaking her head, she continues, "_Look_, genius. Either you can take what I say at face value, and remember that I have no reason whatsoever to lie to you, or you can insist until the bitter end that there is no way at all that I would ever want to be with you and eventually I'll take the hint and leave. It's your choice, Megamind, it really is. But I will _not_ be with someone who's afraid to say what he's thinking."

Well, that isn't too much to ask, and he nods. "All right. In that case, keeping in mind what you said about the content of the book, what exactly do you want?"

"I want Bernard back." He looks as though she just slapped him, but she presses onward, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees. "I _miss_ you. I miss just meeting you in the park and eating lunch and talking. I don't know where we were going, but I was enjoying it. And forget what I said about the content. I was angry, and that's a nasty thing to say to anybody."

"I can't forget it." He frowns. "I can't forget _anything_."

Almost absently, Roxanne reaches over and takes his hand, threads her fingers through his and looks at their joined hands. She squeezes, then stands and pulls him to his feet. "Come on. Food."

And that isn't really an answer, but he follows her to their usual shop and orders his usual egg roll and lo mein. And they talk about nothing and the world in general for the next little while, until there is a lull in the conversation and Roxanne stretches out on the grass. After a moment's hesitation, Megamind copies her.

The grass is green yet, and soft under the shade of the tree where the summer sun can't beat down on it. August feels a long way off, and for a while, everything is as it used to be.

_I'm going to miss this_, he thinks.

"Roxie!"

Beside him, Roxanne lifts herself onto her elbows. "Jo? What are you doing here?"

Her friend waves a gold-brown arm as she walks towards them. "Enjoying this weather. Also I wanted to take my new dress for a test drive on my day off. What d'you think?" She twirls.

"Very flattering," Roxanne tells her. "That's a good color for you."

"Mind if I join you for a bit?" Jo asks, and sits without waiting for a reply. Megamind eyes her cautiously as he sits up – he recognizes the way she moves, the way she carries herself. Yellow sun-dress and small stature aside, this woman is a fighter.

Roxanne looks at Megamind.

_I have a say in this?_

"Sure," he says, shrugging, ignoring the nervous twist in his stomach. "If it's cool with you, it's cool with me."

When Jo smiles, it nearly bisects her face. Megamind can see her molars. "I'm Jo, one of Roxie's friends from work," she says, sticking out her hand to shake. He grips it, and realizes she's sizing him up the same way he is her, and grins in spite of himself.

"Jo, this is Bernard," Roxanne tells her friend, and Megamind shoots her a quick, questioning glance. Roxanne is grinning, and Jo's broad smile grows, if it's possible, even broader.

"Hello, 'Bernard,'" Jo says, and Megamind can _hear_ the invisible quotation marks. _She knows_. He isn't sure how, but she knows. Jo looks at Roxanne and rubs her ear as if it itches. "So how did you two meet?"

Roxanne blinks. Jo raises her eyebrows. "I'll let Bernard explain that," Roxanne says, and stands up and brushes herself off. "I'm going to go get drinks, okay? Coke for Bernard, iced tea for you, Jo?"

"Sounds awesome, thanks."

"Um," says Megamind, but Roxanne is already gone, and Megamind is alone with the stranger. If this comes to blows…_no_. If Roxanne trusts her, so will he, and he frowns at Jo, lifts a hand to his ear. "What was that? Some kind of signal?"

"You're a quick one," Jo replies easily. "Yeah, I wanted to talk to you alone. You like Roxanne, yes?"

"Oh _come on_," he exclaims. "What kind of a question is that?"

Jo sniffs, purses her lips. "I'm not going to make any threats," she says eventually. "I don't think I have to. I just want to make sure you know how much she cares for you."

He stares at her. "I. What?"

Jo nods, studying his face through narrowed eyes. "She tried to hide you from me, you know. I thought – never mind what I thought." The flicker of darkness that passes over Jo's face catches Megamind's attention, and his brain kicks into a higher gear. "Anyway, I came looking."

_Minion failed to mention that_. "Did you." He is studying her features as closely as she is his, now. Megamind has years of observation under his belt; he knows how to tell when someone is hiding something out of fear or duplicity versus out of consideration. He relaxes a little. Jo is here to ensure he doesn't hurt Roxanne.

Jo nods again. "You know she was ready to knife me if I tried anything with you?"

Megamind stares.

"She actually tried to throw me, first," Jo tells him, and grins. "It didn't work."

Megamind gives the smaller woman another quick once-over. Jo has none of Roxanne's soft curves; she is all hard angles and tight muscle, nothing soft or brittle. "I can't say I'm surprised."

Jo shakes her head. "You're missing my point. My point is that I know how these things go. I got enough from Minion and Roxanne to get a pretty good idea of how _this_," and she pokes him smartly in the forehead before he can react, "works. And I am telling you right now, because I _seriously_ doubt that you will figure it out on your own, that if you pass this up or push it away because you think it's impossible – oh, you do, too," she adds when he scowls and opens his mouth to protest. "Don't lie. If you think this is impossible or that you don't deserve it, you're a fool and you need to have your head examined."

This is ridiculous. He has _just_ met this woman, and now she's evaluating him and telling him what to do. Pushy. Rude. She is treating him like a child.

But she is Roxanne's friend, and Megamind will be polite if it kills him. "Look, I don't think you quite understand all of 'how this works'." He presses two fingers to his temple. "I don't like not knowing things, and I don't like it when the facts don't make sense. If I can't make sense of something, I tend to disbelieve it."

Jo, for once, says nothing. She waits. Silence is a powerful tool, and she knows how to use it to her advantage.

Megamind waits, too, but he breaks the silence first when Jo continues to look politely interested. "_Why?_" he asks. "You're her friend. You know her. If you can give me any more data, any _insight_ into the rationale behind your assertions," he spreads his hands wide, vaguely aware that he's slipping into voice patterns he thought he had left behind years ago, "please. Be my guest. Because I _do not_ understand."

Jo waits. A spider trails down from a low-hanging branch of the tree, gossamer silk trailing behind, and she reaches up and catches it. Megamind is growing increasingly agitated.

"I lied to her. I've kidnapped her for years. I may have…little experience with women, or," he pauses, searching for a better way to say it and finding none, "all right, friends in general, but my observations –"

"Are completely invalid in this case," Jo finishes, and Megamind splutters into glowering silence. Jo turns her hand over, lets the little brown arthropod wander over the back of her hand. "She knows you, knows who you are under the mask. You think you're the only person here who wears masks?" She laughs. "Guess what. We're _reporters_. Our lives revolve around being able to put on perfect, happy masks for cameras. Roxanne is very good at what she does because she knows how to play her audience and her subjects. She's a handful. You know that."

"Do I ever," Megamind mutters.

"But she isn't trying to play _you_. She likes you. Or have you forgotten how she looked at you after Titan fell? After the Metro Man charade?" There is an air of triumphant finality to her words, and Megamind senses the discussion is over.

He looks away. He _knows_ Jo is right. He just can't figure out _why_, and it's driving him insane.

Beside him, Jo is holding her spider up to her face, talking to it. "Hi theeeeere," she croons. "Hi. What's your name?"

"_Mangora placida_," he murmurs absently.

Jo glances up. "What?"

He looks at her, then nods at the spider. "It's a _Mangora placida_. A tuft-legged orb weaver."

Jo blinks, bemused amusement spreading over her features. "Why do you know that?"

Megamind colors. "I had a…run-in with a spider a couple months ago. Started doing research."

"Oh yes, the _Arachnus deathicus_ incident." Roxanne is back with their drinks, and grinning from ear to ear as she sits down. "Good times."

Megamind groans. "I will never live that down, will I?" Without waiting for a reply, he points at Jo. "Did you ask her to come?"

"I may have mentioned I would be coming here." She looks from Megamind to Jo and back again. "Did you two have a good talk?"

Jo and Megamind glance at each other. Jo lifts her eyebrows. They are amazingly mobile, he thinks. She could probably conduct a symphony with her face, if she really concentrated.

Then he realizes they are waiting for him to reply, and he stammers something, he doesn't even know what. It seems to placate the two women, though, and he relaxes.

But the facts remain. Jo's input has been helpful, true, but the facts remain.

Fact: If Roxanne is seen in public, in a relationship, with the man who 'killed' her supposed boyfriend, the media will have a field day. She should not have to hide her relationships.

Fact: Lying is bad, if you're trying to be good. He lied to her. That was bad.

Fact: Personal issues aside, there is just no _reason_ for her to like him. If he could think of a valid reason, maybe he would reevaluate his stance, but he can't come up with a single one.


	8. Chapter 8

Ha, this chapter used to be the shortest one of all of them. Oh well.

We're almost done with this fic! Hard to believe. But I've made a decision, and that is that what you're reading now is only part one of Cold Fusion. I'll explain in chapter 9.

You're amazing and wonderful and I love all of you _so much_.

**Chapter 8**

It is nearly 2:00 when Jo leaves. Roxanne hasn't minded Jo's presence, and she doesn't _think_ Megamind has, but it's nice to be able to just sit quietly with each other for a while again. It's cool, under the tree, and the grass is soft and the air is warm and it is a beautiful day.

And Megamind is thinking. He is thinking hard, Roxanne can tell. She can almost hear his brain humming.

"Penny for your thoughts." Nearby, a pair of children run by screaming, followed by a woman with a stroller calling for them to slow down and be careful all in the same breath.

Megamind doesn't reply right away. When he does, his voice is quiet. "I don't understand you."

Roxanne looks at him. He is lying on his back, hands folded neatly behind his head, one ankle crossed over the other, and just for a second she projects his real features over the illusion – blue against green, staring unblinkingly up at the sky.

"What do you mean?" It's the reply she _should_ give, although she's pretty sure she already knows.

Megamind glances at her, stretches a little. "I've been thinking."

Roxanne smiles. "You think too much," she tells him. "Such men are dangerous."

Megamind responds automatically, half of his mouth quirking into the familiar smirk as he twirls and sweeps a hand before him in a surprisingly elegant gesture. "_Fear him not, Caesar; he's not dangerous; he is a noble Roman and well-given_." He tucks the hand back under his head and looks at her. "I think I rather resent being compared to the man who betrayed and killed Caesar."

Roxanne's smile turns into more of a grin. "If I ever have to see that play again, I'll just kill Caesar in Act One and save everybody the trouble."

A line appears between Megamind's eyebrows, but he's amused. Roxanne can tell. She is getting very good at reading him. "Do you know, I really think you would."

Roxanne heaves a sigh and lies back in the grass. She cannot match Megamind's wide-eyed stare at the bright sky; she has to close her eyes. "So you've been thinking."

"Bit of a habit for me, yes," he says lightly. "So. Let's get things out in the open, shall we? Cards on the table, as it were."

Roxanne nods. She is as tired as he is with wondering where they really stand with each other, though she had _not_ expected Megamind to be the one to broach the subject.

"You have a question." His voice is flat, now, a sure sign that he is serious. And judging from the expression on his face, he doesn't like where he's taking this. "I've worked out what it is. I want you to ask it and have done."

Once upon a time, Roxanne would have hated him for presuming to know what she was thinking. It is obnoxious, and condescending, and too much like the old Megamind.

The old Megamind, who had never hurt her, who had on occasion gone out of his way to keep her safe.

She takes a deep breath. "Were you planning on ever telling me who you really were?"

Megamind closes his eyes, swallows, and Roxanne braces herself. Whatever he says, Roxanne will trust. But if he says 'no,' she'll have a tough time moving past it.

"I don't know."

She frowns. She hadn't expected that one.

Megamind shakes his head slowly. "It was…too soon to be sure. Yes? I don't _know_. At the time, I certainly wasn't." It's as honest an answer as he can give, and Roxanne knows it, but he keeps talking. He has to make her understand even though _he_ doesn't really understand, but if anyone ever could, it's Roxanne. "I was too wrapped up in what was happening. No. No, I wasn't planning on telling you. Would I have, eventually?" He pauses, opens his eyes. They flick back and forth for a moment, scanning something Roxanne cannot see before he finally shakes his head again. "I can't say for sure. There are too many variables. As time progressed, I would have grown more comfortable with you, but more fearful as I prolonged the deception. And _your_ anger and fear would be directly proportional to the length of time I had spent lying to you. It's even possible that the growth line would be exponential."

He lets out an involuntary groan of frustration and presses the heels of his hands to his eyes. "There aren't any equations for this. It's all so _subjective_. I _want_ to say that yes, eventually, I would have told you the truth."

Roxanne sits up and watches him. For a while, he does not move. He does not breathe. Finally she prompts, very quietly, "…But?"

"But." He does not remove his hands. "But, realistically." He bites his lip hard enough to leave a mark when he speaks again. "I think I would be too afraid. I could never have…done anything _to_ you, I think." He is hesitant, but Roxanne knows what he means. "I think I would have done something drastic before that happened. Distanced myself from you somehow. Possibly fake my own death, as Scott did, although that may have been a bit _too_ drastic."

Roxanne cannot resist a good-natured jab. "Even for you?"

Megamind half-smiles. "Even for me, but it would depend on how scared I ended up being. And I was scared."

Roxanne remembers the shocked bewilderment on his face when she had shoved him away, and the _oh-god-here-it-comes_ face when she'd thrown her drink at him, and she reaches out and drags one of his hands away from his face and holds onto it. Megamind tries half-heartedly to pull away, but Roxanne isn't having any of that, and he gives up without much of a fight. He puts his other hand down by his side, out of her field of vision.

She sits still and doesn't say anything for a long time. Part of her is still deeply impressed and surprised that he asserted himself, and part of her is nervous because 'I don't know' isn't nearly as reassuring as 'yes, I would have told you in time' would have been.

But the nervous part of her is small and made up of residual fear from the night in the restaurant, and it's irrational. Everything, _everything_ Megamind has said and done between that night and this afternoon has shown her that he is reliable and trustworthy and able to force himself to do what he knows is right, even if it hurts. Even if it could kill him. And this is killing him.

What Roxanne wants to say is something like, _thank you_, or, _I do trust you_, or, _it's okay_, but none of those answers will solve anything or answer any of _his_ questions.

So what she says is, "Your turn," and pushes her thumb against the quick-beating pulse of his wrist. It is fast, much faster than it should be.

Megamind opens his eyes and stares at her. His pupils are dilated, and Roxanne realizes with a shock that he is all but panicking. "W-what?"

"I've asked you a question. It's your turn, now. And _calm down_," she adds, letting some very real worry creep into her tone. "It's okay."

She watches the emotions flash over his features. He's more expressive than he realizes, probably more expressive than he should be. Roxanne learned ages ago that if you keep your feelings on display, people will hurt you with them. _She_ had certainly hurt him. Honestly, the fact that he was hopeful enough to follow her after the restaurant is mind-boggling. The fact that he is here, now, talking to her and trying to work things out is more so.

He wants, desperately, to know where he stands with her. That's why he's lying so still, that's why he hasn't broken and run.

His voice, when he speaks, is strained. "Why am I here?"

Roxanne has to smile. "I'll need more than that."

He misses the sarcasm, speaking increasingly quickly. "No, I mean, why are we still hanging out socially? You kept me safe, you let Minion stay with you, and you gave us a _key to your home_, which, let's face it, probably isn't the smartest thing to give to a megalomaniacal ex-supervillain and his sidekick." He turns his head to the side to look at her again, eyes scanning wildly over her face, her body, taking in her relaxed posture. "I don't _get_ it," he cries. "_Why aren't you still mad?_ Are you hiding it? You said you looked back but that doesn't necessarily _mean_ anything. And _don't laugh at me!_"

"Sorry, I'm sorry!" Roxanne can't help it. She is tired, very tired, and the phrase 'megalomaniacal ex-supervillain' strikes her as being horrendously funny even though it really isn't. And she shouldn't be laughing at all, not when Megamind is so confused, but the range of mobility of his face is amusing when he's _calm_, but when he's freaking out his facial expressions border on the ridiculous. "It's just. _You_. I'm sorry, god, I'm so sorry."

Megamind starts to sit up, but Roxanne rolls over and presses him back down with one hand high on his chest. His pulse goes wild under her thumb. "Stop."

He glares at her, and there's that _hurt_ again.

"You move your face a lot when you talk." Roxanne forces herself to go deadpan, regulate her breathing, be serious. Her own worry has dissipated, leaving her trembling and relieved, and she still needs to take care of her companion's fears. "I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry."

The muscles around Megamind's mouth are tight, but he jerks his chin down in a nod anyway.

"Now," Roxanne says, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "To answer your question. No, I'm _not_ angry. I pushed you into the whole charade. We never would have started working together if _I_ hadn't insisted that you help me work out Megamind's plans. What were you supposed to say to that? 'No, Roxanne, I can't because _I'm_ really Megamind in disguise'?" She cocks an eyebrow. "I mean, _seriously_."

"But –"

Roxanne presses a finger to his lips, and Megamind freezes, his train of thought de-railed. "I'm not finished. That's only part of the reason. The other part is that it worked out so _well_. You asked why I keep holding your hand? It's because I know you, the real you, and I _like_ the real you." She smiles, and he stares up at her in total disbelief. "You're sweet, you're conscientious in a weird, backwards sort of way, you're absolutely _brilliant_, you're neat, you're _funny_. I never realized how _funny_ you are."

Her smile slips a few notches, and she lies down again. "Also, I think physical contact is one of the few things that gets through to you. Not everything makes sense, Megamind. You need to accept that sometimes, the way people feel about each other doesn't have a rational explanation. And I haven't let go of your hand yet because I _want_ to hold it, I will always want to hold it, and there's no reason to _not_ hold it."

Megamind looks at her. For a long, long moment, that's all he does – just lies, very still and serious, in the grass, and _looks_ at her.

Then he brushes a thumb over her knuckles. "Are you saying that this is the natural state of things?"

"No," she says softly, and tightens her grip. "I'm saying I hope it is."

That makes Megamind's throat close up. He has to swallow hard and squeeze his eyes shut to be able to speak again. "I hope so too."

Roxanne lets out a long sigh. "Good," she says, and her eyes fall closed.

They lie like that for a few minutes. Roxanne is fairly sure she's managed to convince him that she wants him, and is content to simply stay where she is. For his part, Megamind feels like he hasn't breathed in about a year, and his heart rate slowly returns to normal as the adrenaline slowly bleeds out of his system.

When he is able to look at Roxanne again without having to worry about throwing up out of sheer terror, he notices again that there are dark circles under and around her eyes.

"Roxanne, have you been sick?"

She blinks at him. "No. Why?"

Megamind surprises them both by making what is possibly the boldest move of his entire life and touching a long, slim finger to the skin under Roxanne's eye. "You look. I don't know. Tired."

Roxanne is silent for a long moment before she admits, "I haven't been sleeping."

"What, at all?" The conversation is so _normal_. Megamind is a little surprised to find that, yet again, the very worst thing that could possibly happen has passed and the world is still turning.

"Not enough to count." Roxanne shakes her head, laughs a little. "It's ridiculous, it really is. Hal is in jail."

Megamind grimaces. "Ah. Dreams." He frowns. "I thought you were in therapy to avoid that sort of thing?"

She snorts. "Well, when you know you aren't actually in _danger_, therapy becomes kind of redundant."

Megamind rolls onto his stomach, props himself up on his elbows. The rush of adrenaline has left him wobbly. "Wait a minute," he says slowly. "You feel _safe_ with me?"

Roxanne looks up at him, eyes at half-mast. "Well, I trust you," she replies, as if it is the most natural and reasonable thing in the world to trust someone who's been kidnapping her on a regular basis for over a decade.

Then she sits up. If she doesn't, she'll fall asleep. "…Should go."

Megamind watches her, amused. "Was there a subject in that sentence? I should go, you should go?" He pauses, suddenly hopeful. "We? Should go?"

Roxanne nods, laughs, points at him. "Yes. I like that one. _We_. But unfortunately, I have to go back to work. There are some things I need to finish, one or two loose ends to tie up before I can head home for the day." She does not _want_ to leave. She _wants_ to just lie with him in the grass and never move.

But this isn't some storybook fantasy where she can just roll over and tear off his watch and kiss him senseless in the middle of the park. This is life. Everything cannot be made okay with the wave of a wand. Megamind's full pardon was a lucky break, but this is not a fairytale where they can all live happily ever after and nothing hurts.

This is life. And life comes with responsibilities, and heartache, and a career to worry about.

Megamind sighs and pulls Roxanne to her feet. "I'll drive you back."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

This is the fourth evening that Roxanne has returned to an empty apartment, and she is beginning to hate it.

Minion had stayed with her for just over a week, Megamind wasn't even _awake_ for most of it, and Roxanne is astonished at just how attached she has grown to having the company around. She was perfectly happy before they came to stay, but now that they are gone…

She unlocks the door and her apartment is neat, orderly. There are leftovers in the fridge, but not many anymore. It is dark, and quiet but for the gentle humming of the air conditioner.

Megamind's words in the car drift back to her, unbidden: _We can't let this go public. Not yet_.

The last thing Roxanne wants to do is hide from everyone, but Megamind is insistent, and Roxanne has to admit that he's right. Everyone still thinks he killed Metro Man. Everyone still thinks Roxanne and Metro Man were an item. If the news that she is seeing Megamind gets out too soon, they will both catch hell for it. And Megamind doesn't have a good reputation to fall back on.

Roxanne scowls.

For the past three nights, she has come home late to a silent room and an empty bed and gone to sleep, only to wake up scant hours later in a cold sweat, gasping and shaking. Getting _back_ to sleep after that is difficult if not downright impossible.

Roxanne nods to herself. She has been considering this for the past two days, and today's conversation in the park has made up her mind. She packs an overnight bag with some clothes and a few necessaries, then hurries back downstairs and hails a taxi.


	9. Chapter 9

This is the last chapter of **part 1**, before the epilogue (and it's a pretty long chapter, sorry about that). There will almost definitely be a sequel, probably several, because I have decided that, in Head Canon, a year passes between the defeat of Titan/Tighten and the opening of the Megamind Museum. I base that decision off of the observation that people are wearing the same kinds of clothes for both events, indicating they occur at the same time of year, but the hypotheses that (a) people won't just accept Megamind right away, (b) it's going to take them a while to re-build the museum after what he did to it, and (c) the city council isn't going to budget money for a new museum while funding the rebuilding of the city even with Megamind's help.

Now, I could have one crazy-long fic with a lot of different, small plots and no real end…or I could have a bunch of smaller (more manageable) fics, each of which tackle a separate issue. I like the latter option.

So, a year. A lot can happen in a year! You all have tossed around really interesting ideas, and I want to take a look at some of them. School is out for the summer and I'm getting a job, and I'm giving my arms a break, so Part 2 may not be up for a while. But it will come! ;) Let's just have fun with this, come on! And _I will get back to you_. XD

So much love to you all. Oh my god. All the amazing reviews, the long ones and the short ones and the in-between ones and the critiques…so much love. Thank you for being so wonderful. I have fallen hopelessly in love with this fandom.

Megamind, Roxanne, and Minion are not mine. The movie © to Dreamworks. I have made and will make no money by writing or posting this fic.

**Chapter 9**

This is the earliest in a long time that Megamind has considered going to sleep, but he's been awake for the past thirty hours and the exhaustion high wore off a little while ago. The half-finished blueprint in front of him is blurry and he just can't _focus_, and he completely ruined part of the paper for drafting when he slipped into random sketches an hour ago. He tips his head back, gazing up at the only light currently shining in the big room.

The lair around him is dark, as he prefers it to be when he's trying to think, but the drafting table is illuminated by a lamp he's proud of – there is no filament bulb, only a spherical container with a white-glowing liquid solution inside. He only has to shake the sphere for thirty seconds and then hang it on its string, and it will glow for the next four or five hours.

He's still working on reducing the recharge time. The compound he currently uses to return the precipitate to its component parts has to be added separately, and the liquid takes almost half a day to reset. He is _sure_ there is a way to reduce the time, maybe even figure out a self-contained system based on molecular masses…

Megamind scowls and pushes his chair away, blinking light-spots out of his vision. Enough of this. He isn't getting anything done, he can't focus on any one thing for any amount of time, and he's just plain _tired_. The last conversation in the car that afternoon had taken a lot out of him, even though Roxanne had agreed to keep things between the two of them for now. She hadn't been happy about it, and _he_ hardly wanted to have to hide, but they both knew that their relationship would look bad.

Still, he hadn't liked to leave her like that. She had been frowning as he drove away. She really hadn't been happy, and convincing himself that no, she isn't mad at _me_, had been difficult. Without really thinking about it, he picks up his pencil again and draws a last quick sketch to cheer himself up.

Then he worries his feet out of his boots and takes off his gloves and cape, leaving them in a messy heap by the drafting table, then hurries across the cold bare floor to the oversized couch in the corner and throws himself down onto it before his feet go numb. One of these days he should really look into getting some carpet installed. Some rugs, at the very least.

The couch, though. The couch was a good find – black leather, far too big, and one owner from new so it was already broken-in and all Megamind and Minion had needed to do was make sure it was disinfected. Megamind sleeps on it almost as frequently as he does in his bed. Sometimes more frequently, depending on the plan he's working on.

He stretches out on his back, folds his long hands over his chest, and closes his eyes.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The taxi driver says nothing about the destination, but he almost protests when Roxanne tells him to let her out by what looks like an abandoned warehouse in the harbor district. He grapples with his better judgment as she gets her bag from the backseat, and finally tells her that if her body turns up in the harbor, it's not his problem. She laughs and tips him almost double what she should, and he drives away shaking his head, convinced that the city's star reporter has finally cracked.

The fake observatory has been taken down.

Roxanne doesn't really expect the secret entrance to still be labeled, and it isn't. She also doesn't really expect it to be _open_; there is no way Minion would leave it unlocked after he was so concerned about people finding the lair. Still, it's worth a shot, and she walks towards the wall with one hand stretched out in front of her and the other dragging her suitcase behind her.

She bounces off. _Damn_.

But there must be a way to get in. She cannot imagine that Megamind would use something as mundane as keys – after all, there's some pretty strong evidence to suggest that Megamind has never used a key in his life. He's never needed to.

No point in looking around for a key, then, and Roxanne runs her palms over the wall. It looks like cement – luckily, the moon is full and there is light enough to see by – but it feels cool and smooth beneath her hands. There aren't any rivets or connectors she can find.

She searches systematically, stretching as high as she can reach and sweeping her hands in straight lines over the smooth plane, back and forth, back and forth, feeling for any difference, for any shift in texture or depth that might give something away.

There. About four feet off the ground, she finds a seam – she follows it with her fingers, traces a rectangle. The difference is delicate, the seams very small and tight, but there _is_ a panel there.

She pulls out her cell phone, hoping for better light, and after a few quick experiments she discovers that by angling the screen almost straight down at the wall, she can see the shadowy outline of a rectangular panel with a circular disc in the middle. It can't be a retinal scanner; it isn't at Megamind's eye level and he's far too proud to stoop. Roxanne shrugs and takes a wild guess, and presses her left index finger to the middle of the circle. She doesn't expect it to work.

So she's surprised when there's a shudder and the entire wall shifts back and slides away. The illusion remains, but she is able to walk through. Really, she should have known Megamind would have her fingerprints. In another life, she might have thought it creepy; now, she finds it both endearing and completely reasonable.

She pulls her suitcase through after her and looks around for a way to close the door after her, since she isn't about to leave it unlocked. Luckily, closing it proves easier than figuring out how to open it; and the large red button on the _real_ wall by the sliding door is clearly labeled. She watches the fake wall slide shut, impressed. The mechanism is completely silent. _Hydraulics?_

The lair itself is also unsettlingly quiet – silent but for a distant pulsing hum unlike anything she has heard before. Small wonder she has never noticed it; on her other 'visits,' the lair has always been full of light and sound and activity, whereas this is faint, and slow, and steady as breathing. She has to strain her ears to hear it.

Never mind the hum; the lair is _quiet_, and that's unusual. There is a light, though, of a sort, emanating from the large room she found before, with Ber—Megamind.

She walks towards the source of the light, pointedly avoiding the "EXIT" on her way past. Halfway to the curtain she stops and takes off her shoes. There may be a _reason_ everything is so quiet, and if there is, Roxanne doesn't want to be the one who disrupts whatever experiment is in progress.

But all she finds on the other side of the heavy curtain is a drafting table with a sheet of blue paper on it, its surface tilted up. A glowing globe hangs from the ceiling, dangling above an empty chair.

Roxanne moves closer, tilting her head at the globe. _What _is_ that?_ she wonders, and reaches towards it briefly before deciding that since she doesn't know what it is and it's hanging in Megamind's lair, she probably shouldn't touch it.

Shaking her head, she turns her attention to the schematic on the board. It looks like some kind of oversized water filter, probably meant for marine use if the 'wave action' power cell is any indication. The lower left-hand corner is a mess of mindless doodles – a bat skeleton posed as if in flight, its minute bones perfectly proportioned; a snake so detailed Roxanne could swear it is looking at her; a little landscape with a half-dead tree and a park bench; and…her eyes go wide.

There, near the bottom, etched in loving detail and white drafting pencil, is a tiny portrait of _her_. She is looking back over her shoulder, laughing, and the wind is in her hair. It must be from memory; Roxanne is very sure that no such photograph exists.

She rocks back on her heels, staring. She tells herself that she really shouldn't be surprised at all – Megamind has spent nearly all of his life observing the world around him but rarely taking part in it, and of course his memory would be excellent, and the volatile nature of most of his inventions would require him to include precise detail on his plans, but _this_…

This, more than anything else, makes up her mind. Yes, she loves him, more than she can possibly say. She wants Megamind and nobody else.

She tears her eyes away from the drawing with an effort and takes a step back, then stumbles and nearly trips over a pile of cloth.

No, she thinks, glancing down, not cloth, _clothing_ – leather gloves and boots, and the mass of crumpled cloth can only be his cape. Roxanne frowns. So Megamind _is_ around here, somewhere. No _way_ could anyone stand barefoot on a floor this cold for long (even with her socks, her feet are cold), and she looks around, peering into the deep shadows in the corners of the lair. For the most part, she doesn't see anything but row upon row of weird, spiky, probably deadly machinery.

In the farthest corner, though, low to the ground where the shadows are blackest and the light barely penetrates, Roxanne sees a darker, black-black shape that she can't quite make out. _Might as well_, she thinks, but she isn't about to go back into the tangle of machinery without a light of some kind.

Upon closer inspection of the glow-globe, she realizes it's actually just a blown-glass sphere filled almost all the way with translucent liquid. A loop of glass around a metal hook on the end of a string is all that keeps it aloft, and a silvery hinge at the base of the loop is the only indication that it can be opened. It is beautifully simple – it's beautiful, and that's all there is to it.

There are finger-smudges on the glass, so it must be safe. She climbs up on the chair to reach it, to lift it cautiously off the hook with both hands, but then she has to jump hastily down when the chair rocks sharply backwards.

The muffled thump when her feet hit the floor makes her wince, but the globe is safe and there is no response from anywhere else in the lair.

She holds the globe up and blinks at it, fascinated. It is cool to the touch. The liquid inside is slightly more cohesive than water, as she discovers when she sloshes it gently from side to side – oh, and it gets brighter when she shakes it! It's almost like the glow sticks she played with as a child, but she can't see any broken capsule inside, and the light it gives off is pure white. _Like a tiny moon_, she thinks, _or a star_.

She gathers up her shoes and Megamind's bundle of clothes and tucks them under one arm. Then, still holding the globe in both hands, she heads off into the darkness.

The rows of machinery look sinister in the low light, throwing leaping shadows on the walls like claws, but Roxanne knows what they look like in daylight and they don't bother her too much as she walks towards the deep shadows, banishing darkness as she goes.

She nearly laughs aloud when she sees what it is: a large, black leather sofa. Megamind is lying on it, dead to the world, his hands folded over his chest as though he were ready for burial.

Roxanne puts the clothes and shoes down on the floor by his elbow, then hesitates.

She doesn't want to wake him, but she can't very well stand where she is all night. For a moment, she simply stands and watches him breathe.

His skin doesn't _look_ particularly tough. In the sharp white light of the glow-globe, it looks translucently paper-thin, stretched tight over his high cheekbones and sharp chin, but Roxanne has seen Megamind face explosions and walk away without a scratch. She brushes the backs of her fingers down the long line of his neck, lays her hand flat along the plane of his cheek.

She's never kissed him. Not when she knew it was him. She had _wanted_ to, in the park and after the battle and then when he had _finally_ woken up. But after the battle she had been too confused and there had been so many people around, and when he woke up he was freaked out and unsure and Roxanne even feels a little bad about cuddling up with him like she did. And she will not kiss Bernard's face again, she _will not_, not until Megamind is very secure about which face Roxanne prefers, and then only if she has to.

She could kiss him now.

Her lips quirk into a smile; Megamind probably wouldn't complain if she woke him up like that.

She puts the globe down carefully on the pile of clothes, drops into a crouch and turns his face towards her and presses her mouth to his in one movement.

Megamind wakes with a start in almost the same movement, eyes flying open then shuttering closed again as he tilts his chin up for a better angle and lifts one hand to the back of Roxanne's head. He isn't quite sure how this happened or if he is, in fact, awake, but he isn't about to try to figure that out. All he knows is that Roxanne is here, kissing him, and that is all that matters.

After a moment, Roxanne pulls back a little, and Megamind smiles dazedly up at her. Roxanne runs a finger over his lip.

"I had a bad dream," she says softly, in answer to his unasked question. She can hardly keep _her_ smile from jumping off her face. "Can I sleep with you?"

Megamind looks at her, snorts, then bursts into delighted laughter and opens his arms.

_It's happening again, it's happening _again, and he thinks he might die of joy right there when she snuggles in warm against his side. But this is a couch, and if they stay there, one or both of them is going to fall off.

He shrugs himself further into wakefulness. He should have done this before she'd lain down, he thinks regretfully. "We should. Um. The couch isn't big enough."

Roxanne lifts her head. "You have a bed?"

He blinks down at her, amused. "Well, _of course_," he says. "I can't sleep on a couch _all_ the time, and much as I am really enjoying having you here, the bed would be more comfortable. Not," he adds hastily, realizing with some horror how he must sound, "that I'm _suggesting_ anything, I mean, it's rather soon for _that_, if that's even an _opt_—mmng." She is kissing him again.

It's cliché, but it works, and the soft smile Roxanne wears when she pulls away again makes him want to die and sing and explode and sit very quietly and just _feel_ all at once.

"Megamind," Roxanne says, very seriously, "I love you. And it _is_ an option. But not tonight."

_She just…said…_ He hasn't heard anything past 'I love you,' and he does not trust himself to speak so he slides his hand back up to curl it around her jaw and pull her towards him, and this time _he_ is kissing _her_.

Initially, anyway. That's before Roxanne licks his lips apart and presses him down, tongue flicking into his mouth. His hands flutter over her back because he isn't really sure what to do with them and can't think clearly enough to figure it out.

Then the leather couch squeaks loudly in protest, completely ruining whatever 'moment' they'd had going, and Roxanne has to bury her face in the curve of Megamind's shoulder to muffle her laughter. It is infectious, and he finds himself laughing, too, hugging her as tightly as he can manage without crushing her, both of them giggling like children.

As their laughter dies away, and Megamind feels Roxanne smiling against his collarbone, he realizes that if he doesn't do something _right now_ neither of them is going to move. And then they will both wake up with twisted necks, cranky and achy and snappish. That's if he _can_ wake up cranky with Roxanne almost lying on top of him like she is; he isn't at all sure that that's even possible.

He pushes himself up on his elbows and waits for Roxanne to move before sitting up the rest of the way. "Come on," he says. "Bed. If we sleep here we'll wake up even more tired than we are now."

Roxanne sighs a little, but Megamind is right. She slips her feet back into her shoes, picks up the glow-globe, and stands. She looks around the darkened lair while she waits for him to get his boots back on.

A weight settles over her shoulders without warning and she jumps and lifts a hand to her neck, feels cold metal spikes. She turns to Megamind, who is standing now as well and gazing at her critically with his arms crossed over his chest and hips cocked to the side. "Hmm."

Roxanne rubs the material between her fingers. It isn't silk; it's too heavy for that, but it is much softer than she'd expected and it follows her every movement, and she says the first thing that pops into her head: "I have _got_ to go rollerblading in this sometime."

Megamind snorts. "I'll make you one that fits better," he promises, then frowns a little and tilts his head the other way. "With a modified collar. That one's too wide for you." He puts a hand in the small of her back and steers her back towards the drafting board and her suitcase.

"No spikes," Roxanne tells him. "If I fall, I'd rather not get impaled."

"How about _smaller_ spikes?" Megamind asks, holding up his thumb and forefinger. "Little ones?"

Roxanne chuckles. "No spikes."

"Oh, _please?_"

"No. And no catsuit, either," she adds, much to Megamind's dismay, as she stoops to pick up her bag. "I don't have the figure for that."

When he doesn't respond, she looks at him, and finds that he is gazing at her with burning eyes. _Good lord_, she thinks, completely taken aback when she realizes she is actually blushing. _Where on earth did he learn to smolder?_

Megamind holds her with his eyes for moment more and then turns away, but not before the corners of his mouth curl up into an amused, vaguely condescending smile that is unlike any Roxanne has seen him wear before.

Honestly, he talks with his face almost as eloquently as he does with his voice. The smile and the eyes and the posture all scream, _I heartily disagree, I'm just too polite to argue with you right now_. And he is blue and big-headed in every sense of the word and gangling and absolutely _gorgeous_.

And somehow, through some miraculous stroke of brilliant luck, he is hers. And she is his, completely, and she cannot stop staring.

"You should have seen Minion's face," Megamind says quietly as he leads her down a long, wide hall. "He said – _all_ he said for the next five minutes, actually, were variations on '_I told you so_.'"

Roxanne looks at him. She has known him for years, and she still can't figure out which of them is taller. One or both of them has always been wearing heels. "I was wondering about that. You sounded earlier like you hadn't talked to him at all."

"I didn't –" Megamind hesitates for a bare second, then continues. "I didn't want to let myself believe him. He said you loved me, and I couldn't…" He trails off, shaking his head. "You understand. I couldn't believe that. I still can't really believe it. In here," he adds before Roxanne can tell him again that he is being stupid.

She puts the globe down on the large bed and grins at the black sheets, but turns to face Megamind before doing anything else. He meets her gaze with an almost sheepish smile. "You," Roxanne says, "are unbelievable." She brings her hands up to wrap around the sides of Megamind's long neck, pressing the heels of her palms into the hollows just behind his ears so that she can lace her fingers together slowly at the base of his skull. Megamind's breath catches in a ragged gasp.

"Listen to me." Roxanne's voice is firm, and Megamind's eyes are huge. "I love you. More than you will ever know. More than I can say. More than there are stars." Half of her mouth curves into a wry grin. She isn't good with flowery speech. "I love you. If you believe nothing else, believe that, and if you won't listen to me, listen to Minion. He knows what he's talking about."

Megamind inhales, blinks a few times, tries to ignore what her fingers are doing enough to form words. "The." His expression is almost pained as he struggles to get out a coherent sentence. "The comparison is. It doesn't work. The units of measurement, they, they don't…" Fuck, how can he _possibly_ speak when she's smiling at him like that _and_ has her hands around his neck? He can hardly _move_. "Move…your hands," he finally manages.

Bemused, Roxanne slides her hands down to rest on his narrow shoulders, and Megamind almost staggers. Roxanne stands for a moment, wondering if what she did had somehow hurt him. He is breathing hard. "What just happened?"

He laughs breathlessly, helplessly. "The high collars, they exist for a reason. Um." He lifts his gaze to hers, hoping, _praying_, that he will not have to explain further.

Roxanne's jaw goes slack for a moment. "Oh."

_Thank God she's so smart_. "Yes."

She'll have to remember that, but he is embarrassed and blushing madly and Roxanne doesn't want to embarrass him further. "Okay, then," she says. "But my point stands."

"I don't know what love feels like," Megamind tells her when he can speak clearly again. He is determined to ignore his awkward response as long as Roxanne does, but he's very glad that his room is still fairly dark and she can't see how shaken he is. "But I can't think of anything else to describe this."

Roxanne grins and releases his shoulders, picks up her bag and hefts it onto his bed. She isn't going to sleep in her work clothes, and she has to do _something_ to defuse the tension. She isn't up for another heavy conversation until she's had at least one good night's sleep. "Well, if _you_ can't think of anything else."

Megamind squints. "Are you making fun of me again? I can't tell."

Roxanne looks up at him. She is usually such a spitfire, full of jokes and quick remarks, but the way she looks at him now is so soft and quiet and _fond_ that he almost takes a step back. It's the way she looked at him in the park when she'd said that she could only hope that their being together was the natural state of things, and it's the way she looked at him when she turned the watch and revealed that he wasn't Metro Man.

She says something, but he doesn't really hear her. It doesn't matter, since he couldn't respond anyway.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Megamind's bed is more than big enough for both of them to sleep on separate sides, but when Megamind crawls tentatively into the middle just to see what happens, he finds that Roxanne is already there. She doesn't say anything – only presses her body backwards against his chest, the top of her head tucked under his chin, and pulls his arm over her shoulders so that they are lying on their sides and nestling together like spoons. He wonders briefly what to do with his other arm, and eventually slips it under her head.

"Do that," Roxanne warns in a low voice, and he jumps, "and you'll wake up in the morning with no feeling in your hand."

"Do you mind if I…?" he asks, rolling his shoulder so that his arm extends between her ear and her shoulder. The curve of her neck fits around his arm perfectly, and he crooks his elbow to wrap his arm up around her chest. She shifts around a bit, and then settles.

Megamind isn't sure how it happens, but he ends up curled around her body and clutching her against him with both arms.

"Is this okay?" he asks after a couple of minutes, and Roxanne stirs.

"Mm? Yes," she says, snuggling backwards again, and then finding one of his hands and wrapping her own around it. "Yes, 's lovely. Go to sleep, Megamind." But a sudden puff of air a second later tells him that she's thinking about something.

He lifts his head and looks down at her. "What?"

"It's not going to be easy, is it," she says softly, more clearly than she had spoken before, and Megamind knows she's thinking about their talk in the car earlier that day.

It's easier to think about, easier to talk about now that they are lying close together in Megamind's bed and not about to part ways. "No," he tells her. "It won't be easy."

Roxanne scowls. "I don't like it."

Megamind tenses. "I know," he says carefully. "I don't like it either. If you'd rather put this off until we find out what Wayne is up to, I understand completely." So much of what he and Roxanne do depends on the public's opinion of him, and the public's opinion hinges on the not-fact that he killed Metro Man.

Roxanne squirms around in his arms until she is facing him. "Stop," she tells him. "I told you before, we're not putting this off unless _you_ want to."

"No, I don't want to put it off." He frowns a little. "But what about your family? Minion told me that you'd said dating Wayne made things easier for you. It might be simpler if you dated someone else, first, to get them used to the idea."

Roxanne pulls away just a little, just so that she can look up and meet his eye. "I'm not going to break some poor sap's heart just to make things simpler."

"No," Megamind says immediately. "No, of course not. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I just." He shakes his head, lets out a soft groan of annoyance.

Roxanne reaches a hand up, touches his face. "Tell me."

"I know you," he says flatly. "I've known you for ages, and I know that you trust your family and they trust you. If you have to hide me from your family, it'll stress you out. It _will_," he presses before Roxanne can interrupt. "You know it will. It will stress you out, make you unhappy. You'll grow to resent me, to resent that you have to hide your relationship not only from your family but from the public in general. And resentment breeds hatred. Oh, for heaven's sake, _what is so funny?_"

Roxanne is laughing again. "You know," she says, "for a guy with no relationship experience…"

"I do _read_," he reminds her irritably. "And I know basic psychology. I know _advanced _psychology. I know how things work."

"Regardless." She presses her lips together for a moment, runs a finger along one of Megamind's eyebrows, making him blink. Then she rubs it back the wrong way with a mischievous grin and he yelps and swats at her hand. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. It'll be okay. I don't think I could ever really hate you, I've known you too long."

Far from reassuring him, this reminder only sobers him further. "That's another thing," he says. "You don't think we might be moving too quickly? Don't forget that you only found out who I was a couple weeks ago."

Roxanne half-smiles. "I thought about that, too. And I don't think I'm worried about it. I still plan on dating you – dragging you out of the lair every few nights, going to dinner, going to the theater, going to the park.

"And don't _you_ forget," she adds, "that I've been seeing you as Bernard since this past winter. That's a good few months, right there. So, no, I don't think we're moving too fast."

There is a pause, during which they lie still and listen to one another breathe. "I hope this works out," Megamind admits after a little while.

Roxanne starts a little, and he realizes she was nearly asleep. "Yeah," she says blearily. "Me too." She pushes him onto his back and wraps herself around him the way she had before on the couch and when he had woken up.

"Can I ask what made you think of that?" he asks, bringing his hand up to curl around her back.

"When I said, 'go to sleep, Megamind,'" Roxanne mutters. She hasn't slept well for some time, and her body is going to sleep without her – her speech quickly begins to slur. "Never thought I'd say those words. I'm glad I can. M'glad you're here. N'your pajamas are the best pajamas." She hums and presses even closer, deeper into his side. "And yer slippers. Little evil bats. Heh."

He lets out a shocked bark of laughter, then presses his lips to her hair before he lays his head back down and closes his eyes. "I love you, too," he whispers into the darkness, and follows her down into sleep.

_Fin_


	10. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

When Minion's suit automatically hums to life at 7:00 on Saturday morning, the first thing he notices is that the lair is still almost silent. That's unusual; Megamind almost always wakes before Minion does and already has everything up and running.

Minion checks the massive back room, first. It's where Megamind spends most of his time, after all – brainstorming and drafting and modifying old inventions and sometimes just stalking up and down and ranting quietly to himself about who knew what – but he isn't there. His chair is empty, the couch is empty, and the globe that usually hangs above the drafting table is nowhere to be seen.

He glances at the table as he walks by and realizes that Megamind is working on one of his suggestions: a filter for the water in Metro Harbor. He smiles – even with the brainbots' cleanup, the recent runoff into the harbor has been full of gross chemicals and poisons, and Megamind has evidently taken Minion's concerns to heart, for once. Well, more openly to heart. Their relationship has never been that of the typical master and servant.

And, damn, where _is _he?

He can't possibly still be sleeping. He never sleeps past six unless he's recovering from one of his battles with Metro Man. Maybe he went somewhere for breakfast?

Minion shakes himself, irritated. When has Megamind _ever _gone out for breakfast? For that matter, when has he ever gone out to get food, period? That's Minion's job.

Okay, breakfast is out. Maybe he's working on one of the reactors. But they both sound fine, both humming away in unison, and Megamind wouldn't work on either of them without shutting it down first. He does in fact have a _brain _in his head.

Is he hurt? Could he be hurt?

Minion pauses. Megamind has slipped and fallen before during all his racing about; for all his agility and toughness, twisted ankles and sprained wrists are nothing new to him, and Minion's worries have been going full tilt ever since the Titan Fiasco. Maybe Megamind fell and hit his head? Twisted his neck? It's enough to send Minion into a tailspin.

Well, and maybe he's still asleep. _There's a first time for everything_, Minion insists inwardly as he all but runs to his friend's room.

Despite his distress, he pushes the door open as quietly as he can; if Megamind is still sleeping, the last thing Minion wants to do is wake him up. He gets little enough sleep as it is.

And, yes, there's Megamind, flat on his back in the middle of his bed, wide awake and grinning wildly up at the ceiling like a lunatic. He hears the door open in spite of Minion's care, and cranes his head around to catch the fish's eye. He beams, hardly able to contain the sheer glee obviously coursing through him. And who can blame him, really? Roxanne is snugged tight under his arm, her head on his shoulder and her arm around his middle.

His master's manic, wordless grin tells Minion more than any words ever could, and the fish rolls his eyes and closes the door, but not before aiming a finger at Megamind and mouthing very clearly, "_I TOLD YOU SO,_" adding a little stab of his finger for emphasis at the end.

With the door safely shut behind him, he sags against it and smiles. He has been hoping for this for the past two weeks. He had hardly dared to hope, at first, but as his week with Roxanne had worn on he had grown increasingly sure of her. And increasingly fond of her. Heavens, _she _needs him as much as Megamind does.

"Fist pump," he says to himself, and then, "One more for breakfast."


End file.
